"I mean no disrespect"

Man asks what he can do in Wigan over a weekend. I tell him about the 1900 experience in the Pier complex which sadly is now defunct. My late friend Jim and I were caught in around 1988 in the living history section by actor pretending to be a 1900 miner who lost his Baptist preacher Dad in pit accident. We are invited to tea and ham sandwiches in Temperance Hall after the funeral in the local chapel. " I mean no disrespect" says Jim, " but I saw your father drunk outside the Collier's Arms last week". Laughter breaks within the crowd of visitors and  actor struggles after that

My hand is shaken by a man who had heard of my contribution on Radio 4 on the subject of the struggle for work for people over 50 and the reliance on part time work; agency. He had lost his job in the Highways Department of a local authority and was know struggling on infrequent work through a agency