Well that’s the last night of taxi surveys and ‘ Next week I will mostly be installing garage doors’.
My 10 till 4am shift being the last , had to be the worst for weather and decibels ,courtesy of the particular brand of drunk that hangs around that area of the town centre.
You see its my observation that different socio-economic groups are attracted to particular areas of the city. Which is odd to me as neither appears distinctly up-market or down-market.
Now the drunken staggering was more brutish last night near the train station and the bouncers were really having to throw people out of the clubs; and I mean throw them out, into a heap on the pavement. Women somewhere between 18 and 20 stone dressed as school girls (I have a nerve in my face that still twitches when I recall that vision) teetered on stressed stilettos and weaved in and out of cars in an almost suicidal attempt at keeping up with pub crawling friends crossing the road.
I quickly found a doorway refuge to avoid the shoulder barging from the inebriated punters.
I was soon joined by a tramp who asked politely if he could sit in the doorway. How could I refuse; the furniture store doorway was large enough for two .It had the unfortunate effect however of making us look like a duo. When he started to ask passers-by for small change; and always politely, I was marking taxi figures on my clip-board but surely it appeared that I was marking his success rate or at least assisting with some accountancy work on his behalf.
‘This is what I have come to then’ assistant to a tramp.
In my defence he was a gentleman tramp and always courteous; even wishing people who declined to give money with “have a nice day”. Just thought I would mention my business partners meritorious politeness for the benefit of all those who said I would come to Nowt.
I’m moving on now with my spotted hankie on a stick, (no I didn’t steal his) to seek my fortune in garage doors.