So, there I was, with the kids in the Eye infirmary waiting room whilst the missus was at reception. A woman in the corner, aged fiftysomething, complete with knitting and a ball of wool etc, pipes up and says "They your kids?" and looks at them with a woman's affection. I reply "Yep - sure are" in a half uncertain sort of thing where you don't know if you want to get in to a conversation with a random stranger. Anyway, she offers her compliments and I notice that she has a South African accent - unusual for Plymouth thinks I. She starts chatting away about how she hasn't seen her grandchildren for years because her kids emigrated to America, and then this, and then that - but all kid related - evidently she misses her kids and grand kids like mad. I nod in the relevant places and make sympathetic noises of agreement as blokes do. Then she says "Yeah, I love it here because it's safe, not expensive, the people are really friendly and I can just go out and do things whenever I like". Evidently, she used to live on a 'safe' compound in South Africa where there is a rape every three minutes and a woman has a 50/50 chance of getting raped every time she goes out (outside the compound). Just as I was beginning to digest this information and ask a few well placed questions, the missus comes along and we have to move to another waiting area so I quickly bid the woman a cheery goodbye.
Sometimes, things happen, completely randomly, that remind you exactly how lucky you are and what you have. You might be a bit short of cash and can't afford that CD/DVD this week but you've got a roof over your head, there's food on the table, the kids are clothed. None of my shoes have holes in the soles. GB might be a cr@p place to live if the press/news/media is anything to go by but you know what? There's a helluvva lot of worse places in the world that call themselves civilised.
Apologies if this is a bit of a ramble but I thought it might add a bit of something different to idle banter and perhaps give you peeps of the .org some food for thought in an otherwise ordinary day where in the UK, it's been raining cats & dogs and about 75% of the people you pass in the street look completely pi$$ed off with their lot.
Ok - I'll stop now and get out a bit more
