....I tried to leave comments on two blogs and didn't manage to pass the sentries at the gate. To add insult - one of the blogs was my OWN!!! Blah! Anyway, here is what I wanted to add:
I'm looking forward to Chillsides' exposition on Tracey E. Thought that might evince a response. And as for Croydon - I lived in Thornton Heath for a number of years. That was close enough. Croydon was my nearest shopping centre. I didn't enjoy it. On another site I read the comments of an ex-Croydonian after a return visit; she said she didn't realise how awful it was whilst she was living there. We don't do we? We create a bubble for ourselves. I had a circuit of shops in Thornton H where I could talk to the shopkeepers and I stuck to them obsessively. It's a survival thing. Chloe and Sandy texted from London after crossing from one mainline station to another during the rush hour. 'Sardines R us!' In oil I imagine - and some poor souls do that daily, in fact can't imagine the horrors of living in the boondocks of Forres.
That sort of life affects the way we behave. Sophie used to look people in the eye when she passed them in the street; after several years in London she strides briskly, looking straight ahead, avoiding all eye contact. Visitors from the deep south are a jarring element this time of year. They drive more aggressively; they seem to be made nervous by friendliness; would rather remain aloof, slightly supercilious, slightly mocking? They bring a tension with them that is palpable. It's the way they have learned to survive.
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