Lifter

There are some things which lift you when you're not feeling particularly 'up'. Tonight I was quayside with a bunch of young men I used to teach, and it was a wonderful experience, thanks to the Mongol and his cohorts.

I suppose what was endearing about this experience was that the fellows were in many ways so recognizably themselves. Cornerman was still sitting at the periphery thinking inscrutable thoughts and working out his own stuff while everything else was happening around him. Leo was still the slightly out-of-touch leader with the inability to make the accounts tally. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to pay the balance the way he used to have to.

One difference was the beer. Another difference was that these were men now, not boys. It was good. It was amazing to see who had become a teacher, who was indulging in entrepreneurship, who was working at a dockyard.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and when the Winner, now the proud father of a six-month-old girl, decided to be kind and give me a lift home, I enjoyed that too.