Pull the Other One

I like to think that this was a caller's over enthusiastic attempt to gain entry to a tenement to visit someone who wasn't in, and then thought there was the chance that his downstairs neighbour might open the door.

These old fashioned bells with owners's names engraved permanently above, in a time when moving house wasn't so common, are a rarity nowadays, having been superseded by characterless rows of buttons on a silver coloured plate with voice entry grill.

These tenement bells of my childhood were polished lovingly with brasso, and involved much more strength and excitement for us kids to pull and scarper than just an easy pressing of a forefinger on to the modern variety.

Little thought or care did we give back then as to what difficulty it might be for an old person to get to the door only to discover no-one there.

I only did it once: I must have been about 7or 8 and I was on the way home from Brownies with a friend, when we saw such a bell on a main door flat just yards away from a corner. What a temptation- we pulled, and ran.

Now with a bus pass and hindsight, I'm ashamed of my actions, but children full of youth and vigour give no thought to infirmities of age.