Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[77dave]

how about the cash action and food?

[slowmo]

Hi Red , very unlucky Sir. Glad to see I inspired you to final in DTD when we met though.  My thinking (for what its worth) is that events in life , particularly adversity, dont build character as much as REVEAL character. Great result online at Blonde . Good for you.

[RED-DOG]

how about the cash action and food?

Cash action poor. You know poker players, you have to lead them along by the hand, sit them in the game, bring their chips to them, and then let them think it was all their idea.

Food also poor.  Could do so much better in both departments.

[RED-DOG]

My thinking (for what its worth) is that events in life , particularly adversity, dont build character as much as REVEAL character.

That's a great line Slowmo, and very true. I intend to steal it and use it as my own.

[slowmo]

Quote from: slowmo on Today at 07:30:49 pm
My thinking (for what its worth) is that events in life , particularly adversity, dont build character as much as REVEAL character.


That's a great line Slowmo, and very true. I intend to steal it and use it as my own

i OBVIOUSLY NICKED THE LINE FROM SOMEWHERE ,rED , SO YOU WELCOME TO USE IT. jUST REMEMBER WHERE U HEARD IT FIRST.

BTW, THE STUFF i'VE DONE I'M NOT PROUD OF , PROB BEST AFTER THE 9PM WATERSHED

[slowmo]

bugger. obviously novice at this. how do i put the previous quote in a box after the copy n paste ??

[RED-DOG]

bugger. obviously novice at this. how do i put the previous quote in a box after the copy n paste ??

Click the little "Quote" button at that sits just above and to the right of the post that you want to quote, then type your words below all the text.

[slowmo]

bugger. obviously novice at this. how do i put the previous quote in a box after the copy n paste ??

Click the little "Quote" button at that sits just above and to the right of the post that you want to quote, then type your words below all the text.

Thanks- lets see if i can get it to work.

[RED-DOG]

bugger. obviously novice at this. how do i put the previous quote in a box after the copy n paste ??

Click the little "Quote" button at that sits just above and to the right of the post that you want to quote, then type your words below all the text.

Thanks- lets see if i can get it to work.

Quick learner you.

[AndrewT]

bugger. obviously novice at this. how do i put the previous quote in a box after the copy n paste ??

Click the little "Quote" button at that sits just above and to the right of the post that you want to quote, then type your words below all the text.

Thanks- lets see if i can get it to work.

Quick learner you.

The adversity of the situation revealed his inate quick-learning character.

[RED-DOG]

When I was almost, but not yet seven, we moved on to a small piece of land next to a railway embankment behind the Arrow public house in Olleron Notts.
The land belonged to a good friend of my father, a gorger man called Philip Poole.

Ours was a small group, consisting of one “Fairhome” caravan that was home to my parents and us kids. One “Buccaneer” caravan belonging to my dad’s parents, my “Little” granny and granddad. (My grandparents on my dad’s side were short, and those on my mothers side were tall, so we always knew them as our little granny and granddad and our big granny and granddad) Completing the outfit was one Ex Ministry dropside Bedford truck.

We shared the one truck between two caravans because my dad was the only driver. My granddad would have nothing to do with motorised vehicles, they made him nervous.  He used to say that one horsepower was enough for anyone.

I loved it behind the Arrow; there was so much for a little boy to do. There was an old corrugated iron shed to play in, a tree with a rope swing. Another tree that was good for climbing. A water tap fixed to a post, and best of all, a railway line that real “puffer” trains used to run on two or three times a day. When a train came past, I would shout up to the fireman, “Chuck us a lump of coal” and he would toss a big piece, probably weighing a stone or so down the embankment to me, and I would proudly carry it home.

One day, out of the blue, my mam announced, “If you’re a good boy, you can go to school tomorrow”. I was thrilled. I had no idea what going to school entailed, but, I reasoned, if I had to be good to be allowed to go, it must be really nice.

The next day I was taken to the village school and introduced to my teacher, Mrs Hill. She told me that if I minded my Ps and Q's, she and I would get along fine. I hadn’t a clue what Ps and Q's were, but if I ever found out, you could bet your bottom dollar that I was going to mind them for all I was worth.

The school consisted of a small stone building which occupied one corner of a large playing field, inside the building there was just two rooms, one for the juniors, (kids between five and ten I think) and one for the seniors, big lads, some with hairy chests and moustaches.

A door connected the two rooms. Sometimes during a lesson there would be a knock at this door, and one of the big boys would come through to our side and say he had been told to ask Mrs Hill’s permission to sit in our class because he was to dense to sit with the big boys. There he would sit, poor sod. All afternoon. Crammed on to a tiny chair, chin on knees, face scarlet with embarrassment.

My first day turned out to be quite traumatic. First of all, the teacher gave us paper and crayons and told us to draw a pillar-box. Well we used to keep our pillows in a locker under the bunk in the caravan, so I drew a picture of the inside of the caravan, and then, for good measure, I drew a picture of the outside too. When we handed our pictures in, all he other children had drawn post boxes, They laughed uproariously at my caravan pictures, and I was given a severe telling off for not doing as I was told.

Playtime came, and no sooner were we outside than one of my classmates “Neville” a sallow youth with baggy shorts and one front tooth missing pushed me against a wall. “You’re a gippo aren’t you?” he demand, his arm across my throat. “No I’m not” I croaked, not really knowing why I denied it, he just made it seem so horrible, and now all his cronies were crowding around, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. “Where do you live then?” Neville pressed. I knew the game was up, I didn’t answer.

For the rest of the play period, Neville and his mates followed me around chanting, “My mother said, I never should, play with the Gypsies in the wood” or running away holding their noses pretending that they couldn’t stand the smell of me. When I got home, I told my dad that I didn’t want to go to school any more, and why did I have to be a Gypsy?

My dad explained to me that it was a privilege to be born a Gypsy. He told me that it didn’t matter what the gorgers said, they knew nothing of our way of life, our values, our code of conduct, our freedom.

 “Were better than them aren’t we dad?” I said. “No Son” He replied, “We’re just lucky to be what we are”. I said that I believed him.

I believed him back then, and now, forty odd years later, I still believe him. I have been taunted and discriminated against many times since, but I have never again been ashamed of what I am. I spent a total of about three months at that school, and two months more at another, and that was the end of my schooldays.

I may not have learned much in the last 50 years, but I learned enough on my first day at school to last me a lifetime.

[Card_Shark]

Your diary is great reading Tom, keep up the good work. Loved the pillar box drawing part!

[AndrewT]

What's a 'gorger'? Is it a Gypsy term for non-Gypsies, a bit like Gentile?

[bobby1]

Does anyone know why the term horsepower is used in vehicle terms?

[The_nun]

It's very technical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#History_of_the_term_.22horsepower.22