I think we elderly people ought to pass on what pearls of wisdom we have learned to the younger generation.
One bit of advice I can pass on is that when someone tells you "it's only five minutes' walk" they are always lying to you.
This post has been brought on by an incident when my nephew and I were on our way to Old Trafford for the cricket yesterday. We had got the train to Deansgate Station in Manchester and were supposed to change to a Metrolink tram which stops right next to Old Trafford. As we stood on the platform waiting for the tram, all the trams to Old Trafford were so packed that it was impossible to force our way onto them.
"Get the train to Trafford Bar," said a platform attendant. "It's only five minutes' walk to Old Trafford."
We both knew he was lying. He just wanted to get rid of us. But it was clearly not going to be possible to get on the right tram, so we followed his advice.
In the event it was about twenty-five minutes' walk. It wasn't the worst example of the "five minutes' walk lie that I have experienced. Some years ago the same promise in a tourist brochure for Castleton saw me trudging up a steep mountain with a sturdy Latvian woman in search of the Blue John mine, which took over an hour. But that's another story. 🙂
One bit of advice I can pass on is that when someone tells you "it's only five minutes' walk" they are always lying to you.
This post has been brought on by an incident when my nephew and I were on our way to Old Trafford for the cricket yesterday. We had got the train to Deansgate Station in Manchester and were supposed to change to a Metrolink tram which stops right next to Old Trafford. As we stood on the platform waiting for the tram, all the trams to Old Trafford were so packed that it was impossible to force our way onto them.
"Get the train to Trafford Bar," said a platform attendant. "It's only five minutes' walk to Old Trafford."
We both knew he was lying. He just wanted to get rid of us. But it was clearly not going to be possible to get on the right tram, so we followed his advice.
In the event it was about twenty-five minutes' walk. It wasn't the worst example of the "five minutes' walk lie that I have experienced. Some years ago the same promise in a tourist brochure for Castleton saw me trudging up a steep mountain with a sturdy Latvian woman in search of the Blue John mine, which took over an hour. But that's another story. 🙂
