Yesterday, as planned, I went into Manchester to meet some former pupils for lunch. The tram I catch from Oldham Mumps to Manchester usually comes from Rochdale, or at least from Shaw, but at the moment Oldham Mumps is its final destination / point of departure because of “unstable land” causing problems such as buckled tram tracks. Is there seismic activity? Or is the land swelling because it has absorbed so much rain recently? Whatever the cause, it is described as a “complex problem” and the service is suspended until further notice. Replacement buses (yellow Bee Network buses of course) will be provided.
At the other end of the line, which usually continues to East Didsbury, everything stopped at Exchange Square, between the Arndale Centre and the old Corn Exchange. No explanation given there but maybe it was because of the various demonstrations going on.
On the crossroads by Marks and Spencer, at the top of Market Street, a moderately large group of people with Israeli flags were gathered, blocking the road and chanting something indecipherable.
I knew that a pro-Palestine demonstration was gathering at 12.00 at the other end of Market Street in Piccadilly Gardens. As I walked along Market Street I came across them, another quite large group, marching along singing about the colours of the Palestinian flag and calling out for freedom. I looked out for friends who usually attend such gatherings but saw no familiar faces. Whether or not the two groups met at the top of Market Street I do not know. I’ve seen no reports of clashes and there was an amazingly large police presence.
I went on my way and met my young friends, now not so young having reached their late thirties but everything is relative. We had arranged to meet at a Spanish restaurant which should have been easy to find except that the street where it was located was blocked with roadworks. Eventually I made my way through the tangle of pedestrian access pathways and found La Bandera, where the staff were all speaking Spanish to each other, always a good sign. My former students, disappointingly, were not speaking Spanish, indeed were shocking mispronouncing chorizo and paella, but none of them has made use of their Spanish since leaving college.
The food was good, the tapas portions were small but very authentic, and I suspect it was all fairly expensive. My young friends refused to share the bill with me; this was their treat, they insisted. How nice! In very Spanish fashion we spent hours over lunch. Catching up on what everyone has been up to and reminiscing about old times back when they were irresponsible sixth form students. A good time was had by all! We have promised to meet again some time before Christmas, maybe recruiting some more of their former classmates.
We went our separate ways. I reconnoitred the Italian restaurant where I shall be lunching next Friday with my Italian conversation class. Since we have been doing that class online we meet every once in a while to have an Italian lunch and to reassure each other that we are still alive and mobile.
This morning came the news that someone took a potshot at Donald Trump at a Republican Party rally. One of my young friends from yesterday’s lunch commented on social media that the shooter had a large round head to aim for and, disappointingly in his opinion, only managed to shoot the former president’s ear. We’ll probably never know what was behind this apparent assassination attempt as the shooter was shot dead by security forces. Was it a lone shooter? Was it a conspiracy? Was it an attempt to curry sympathy for Mr Trump? Either way, the head of security is going to have to answer some questions.
One spoof comment has been that the National Rifle Association has responded to this rooftop shooting by calling for a ban on rooftops! I doubt that they’ll be calling for a restriction on the type of guns Americans can carry. Crazy people!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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