More Pensioner Worries

All the indicators suggest Britain is going backwards economically, socially and politically. Well, that's what it says in the review of this book I fancy having a read of next. A familiar theme. A familiar theme of late middle aged men as I've discovered. Bend my ear, or what! Is it true? I'd say, without a doubt. Maybe gradually, certainly almost imperceptibly, our society is becoming hollowed out. As our industries decline and communities at the edge fall apart, we've pumped in our oil money and raised dodgy credit just to pay benefits and keep up the methadone supply for those who have fallen clean out of it. And now the roosts are coming home to chicken. I'll be coming home to more Turkey, mind.
I really shouldn't go out walking on my own! Actually, up the hill, after I'd walked past one gate I was alerted by a call behind me so I retraced my steps. Here was an old chap, sitting on a wheelchair in his vestibule, wearing his dressing gown with a rug across his knees. Merry Christmas, he said, raising his bony hand. So, I stood there awhile and we discussed how windy it was, and I talked about my walk along the canal. And as I walked slowly back afterwards, the veneer of civilisation felt scarily thin.