Manners Maketh Man

I experienced a moral dilemma today in Sainsbury’s. I had my headphones pushed in as close to the brain as is medically possible and was really banging out Jonny Greenwood is the Controller, a sumptuous collection of reggae riddims that I wrote about here. It sounded fabulous. However, in the pasta sauces section, I spotted an old school colleague – with wife – approaching. Normally I would have said hello, and, as I had spotted this fellow at the rugby yesterday, would have discussed the game and swapped opinions about the state of the noble city club. I must confess that today I kept the phones in the skull, smiled, winked and muttered a brief, ‘How do’, hoping I wasn’t shouting too much. At the time, I felt the wink was an act of genius, a cheeky gesture that somehow excused my lack of chitter-chat. Six hours later, I am slightly lamenting my lack of grace and guiltily reappraising my lack of manners. Popular music had defeated the basics of society and community. It is a cracking album though.

Gloucester defeated the Falcons of Newcastle yesterday by 24 points to 18. It was a slightly anti-climactic event really. The rugby seemed a bit flat as my favoured team missed too many tackles and was forced to rely on individual acts of wit and skill to create its tries. The visitors’ backs, a real who’s who of young English talent, carved the Cherry and Whites up again and again while their forward pack, supposedly a weak link, fronted up strongly and were a match for the more exalted home eight. Our victory was fortuitous and Newcastle probably deserved more than a losing bonus point. They were the best team I’ve seen visit the famed old stadium all season.