Other people’s business!

Sometimes it is necessary to bite your tongue and prevent yourself from joining in the conversations of others on public transport. Very occasionally they almost invite the whole bus to join in but as a rule it would be considered rude if you were to give them your opinion. Of course, the problem is made worse by the fact that some people just cannot hold a quiet conversation but must speak at top volume even to the person sitting next to them.

Such was the case yesterday when the two ladies behind me, discussing local secondary schools. One of them had a strong London accent and freely admitted she did not know much about this area. This did not prevent her from expressing her opinion of all the possible schools her grandchildren might go to. I sat on my hands and bit my tongue! When she moved on to the subject of public transport and how much more efficient, organised and generally pleasant the Manchester tram system is than the London Underground I was similarly taxed. “I love the Manchester Metro,” she gushed, “It’s so much less crowded and cleaner.” Well, it’s a bit like comparing two very different beasts, cats and tigers maybe, that have some similarities but don’t really bear comparison.

While she was growing so enthusiastic I began to fear that she and her companion would get off the bus to catch the tram to Manchester and that I would have to try not to join in their talk all the way to the city centre. Fortunately they stayed on the bus!

At Piccadilly station I met my nervous companion from the Italian class, the one who likes to have company for the last stage of her journey as she fears the neighbourhood might be a bit disreputable and dangerous. Despite the rain, which seemed to have decided to fall specifically at that time, having held off earlier in the day, we decided to do the 20 minute walk to the venue.

Initially we just trusted to the hoods of our raincoats but as the rain persisted we put up umbrellas. That was when we ran into one of the local loonies (seemingly mostly harmless despite smelling strongly as if he had been smoking illegal substances) who stood in our path with his hands raised. “Ladies!” he declared, “ you have hoods AND umbrellas. What is going? Enjoy the weather!” With that he ran his hands through his wet hair and went on his way.

He would not have hesitated to join in the conversation in the bus, of that I am pretty sure.

Walking around Manchester, I was struck once more by the number of beggars there are around. Some people say I should not do this, but I now tend to go around with a pocketful of change so that I can offer something more than just a greeting. And I read somewhere that actually stopping and greeting them at least gives them a sense of belonging to society and not being invisible.

Here come some related statistics: “In Greater Manchester last year there was a 41% year-on-year rise in rough sleepers. During the last annual count, in November 2016, there were 189 people found spending the night on the streets. Charities say the real numbers tend to be about three times those officially recorded.”

That”s all.