Pomp Notwithstanding

I’m feeling a bit better today, having slept the sleep of Rip Van Winkle, my beard keeping me warm. That may make me sound delirious. I don’t think I am. It’s just a cold and I didn’t bother going to the doctor.

While I sat in Starbucks today, prepared to read my book on literacy and the working classes, my ears pricked up when a man sitting next to me mentioned Chelsea. He was sitting opposite a woman who, I think, was his wife. I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop but I couldn’t help it, they spoke so loud…and it makes such an interesting post.

Apparently his work has a corporate box at Wembley and he is going to the FA Cup semi-final. Lucky sod, I thought. He was saying how he was going to invite a mutual friend of theirs who is a Tottenham supporter but only if Tottenham beat Aston Villa in their replay. She expressed a desire to go instead. He was completely taken aback. He hadn’t considered asking her. Like a good downtrodden woman, she said it would be better to take the Tottenham supporter.

Then the conversation took on the style of a business meeting and for a moment I thought, perhaps, they were boss and PA. But it was just his way of discussing their diaries. They had to determine how next Sunday was going to proceed. He needed to know what was happening with ‘mother’. She then said something about having mum and dad over for lunch in order to get some points! Points? The discussion then focussed on, I think, his sister and how she’d feel. He sent her an email immediately, outlining their plans. This was solved and so mum and dad are going to theirs for a bar-b-que.

And then an important discussion around a daughter. I’m not sure if it is her, his or their daughter. It was very difficult to work out. You have to remember the entire conversation was in business-like terms. And then, he asked her a question about why the daughter didn’t want to see her grandmother. The woman talked about something else and he quickly leapt on this, saying something like:

“Hang on. I asked you a question and you avoided it. Are you privy to some secret information you are keeping back? I can’t operate without knowing all the facts. I need you to answer the question.“

Seriously. That may not be the exact words but it was just as pompous. She fell silent and they sipped their drinks. Eventually she spoke, softly…sadly too soft for me to hear. The discussion then turned to possible birthday presents for the daughter. After a lot of negotiation, it was decided an iPhone was a good idea.

By this time I was bored, finished my latte and left. As I wandered home I couldn’t help thinking what a pompous ass this man was and what an idiot this woman was for letting him treat her this way. This may be because last night I watched a documentary on BBC4 called Women. It is a look back at the women’s movement since the early 1960s and reminded me that I’m a feminist. Not that I’d forgotten but sometimes we need a little nudge of recognition.

In the documentary was Marilyn French, who wrote the brilliant Women’s Room which I read a long time ago. She was a sad, frail woman who had suffered a difficult life. The interview with her was her last, as she died last year. As I switched the TV off I was amazed that we all knew that Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy and Patrick Swayze died last year but not one of the greatest and most influential feminist writers of the 20th century. Damn this cult of celebrity we live in!

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I’ve scanned in some more old family photos. You can see them here. I have also added some photos I scanned today from our 2000 holiday in the Tyrol. You can see them here. I’m gradually scanning in some of our older holidays (before digital photography made it all so easy) and will let you know as I do.