Liam and the family

Another typical afternoon on the bus ride home. Two girls, each about 15 years old, punching each other affectionately in the back seat. A mobile phone rings between them.
"Liam, you're drunk!"
Her friend in the pink pajamas and trainers shouts:
"Ha! Ha!"
into the phone.
"Mary Gillick texted me and said 'Ure kid is plain in the road'."
Liam says something...
"I don't care. Why are you drinking?"
There a reply of some kind...
"Oh *you* get depressed, do you? Well *I* get depressed too, but I don't spend all my money on drink in the middle of the day!"
He says something more...
"We're walking around The Square. We'll be home in an hour."
They're on a bus leaving The Square, but Liam isn't to know.
"What were you doing phoning my mother for money last week and telling her the baby needed rusks? I *know* that's a lie, because I bought her rusks. And me Ma knew it was a lie, cos I told her I bought rusks."
The conversation waltzes about in wide-spinning circles with her ear-bashing him about his drinking, his friends, his money, his dole. Occasionally, the friend shrieks something meaningful in the direction of the phone.
I drift away into my own thoughts for a while.
Almost home and a bunch of other 14 and 15 year olds get on the bus.
"Jesus! Look at you!"
"I know. Jesus! Three months is ages!"
Bringing up the rear is a black kid in a baseball cap. He is to gangle what blizzard is to snowflake.
"No, I'm in court on Thursday. I'll call you after....", he says. "I just have something to do in court. Yeah. Bye."
The three-monther turns to the friend:
"What do you have on?"
"Pajamas."
"Are you serious? What do you have under them?"
"Skin, mostly."
They start chatting to the black kid and I trudge downstairs, wondering what's in the cupboard for dinner.

Sign of the Times

Today, I am standing in a frill-free, foreign-owned supermarket, peering at the Schnitzeblibil herself has found at a bargain price.

"What is a Schnitzeblibl?" I ask, innocently. It's been a long week.

Herself looks down her nose at the foreign label on the plastic bottle.

"It's either a shampoo... or a salad dressing. I'm not sure."

"Ah."

I lift up a green net bag.

"And the Defergaumin?"

"Six for the price of four," she says.

"Do you think," I ask. "Do you think the Defergaumin could be served with the Schnitzeblibl?"

"Don't be silly," she says. "Look, give me that trolley and go and look at the Man stuff."

I examine the rotary motor mower; poke briefly at the energy-saving L.E.D. work lamp; try on then put back the protective chainsaw boots. I meet Herself in the next aisle, where she is wrestling another woman to the ground, growling menacingly.

"MY....! I said MY Liebenhaffabudenschtiffel!"

In the car park, a man is tentatively cutting off a shopping trolley wheel with a brand new plasma rig.

"Only nine-ninty nine in the third aisle," he says, grinning.

I pack the groceries into the car and we drive away.

Revolution Now!

A third-level student gentleman on the bus this morning was overheard to say that he thought the bus must be leaving town earlier because it reached his stop earlier this morning.

I wondered if he'd noticed the lower-level schools were on a mid-term break, which meant less traffic, which meant he had to run for his bus. Nope. Don't think it registered.

His third-level lady companion said she thought there was a strike on next week. He said he thought there was one on Saturday. And one next Thursday. And there could be more after that (wait for it):

"...depending on whatever the hell they're striking about."

Take an F grade in Cause and Effect, young man.

I think I'll stop my Union sub now.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day

Translation, (but the original French is much better, I think) courtesy of this site:

The blue sky can collapse on us
And the earth fall to ruins,
I don't care, as long as you love me.
I don't care a damn about the world.
As long as love lights my mornings
As long as my body trembles under your hands
I care little about problems
My love since you love me.
I would go to the end of the world

I would have my hair died blonde
If you asked me.
I would go and unhook the moon
I would go and steal a fortune
If you asked me.
I would reject my country
I would reject all my friends if you asked me.
People can laugh at me
I would do anything
If you asked me.

If one day life tears you away from me
If you die whilst away from me I
don't care as long as you love me
Because I will die too
We will have eternity all to us
In the blue all immensity
In heaven no more problems,
My love, do you believe we love each other
As God reunites those that love one another.