"Even if I got rid of all my problems, I'd just go out and get new ones..."

History and old people
9:09 p.m. on 2005-03-09

I was stood on the tram, must have been about four o'clock, middle of the city, and outside three oaps are walking through a park.

Two old men and a woman I suspect was flirting her be-scarfed socks off. Strolling through what is barely big enough to be called a park - more a small grassy area with enough room for a bench and a couple of trees. Pausing to read the plaque that is set into the steps.

My first thought was how out of place they seemed, in the centre of such a huge, busy city. It's never been a conscious thought before, but I've always seen Manchester as a young person's place. It just seemed... odd, to see three pensioners ambling through the city centre at a time close to rush hour.

My second thought was... I never do that. Look at plaques, I mean. I do in foreign countries, and if I'm in holiday in a UK town I've never been to previously. But not in my own home city. I have no idea who the statue is of, the one that stands in Piccadilly. I don't know anything about the history of the town hall, or the cathedral. And I don't know what names those three pensioners read upon the inscription in the park.

Maybe tomorrow I'll walk to the station, take a detour, and read it for myself.

Listening to: Dolly Parton "Nine to Five"

Quote:
"Oh Brian, you came!"
"Er, no, I spilt my drink."

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