I get very lucky in my work sometimes. Today I was in a community shop in Haringey for a drop-in tea and cake session for older people, and had a hilarious time.
Quite a few stories came out - like the one about the neighbour who kept a pig (this is inner city London we're talking about, in this case maybe ten years ago although memories aren't always reliable on dates). He took it for walks like you would a dog, on a lead. But not always on a lead. I missed the next bit of the story as I was sorting cups of tea but when I came back they were talking about butchers' shops.
Then there was a conversation about how 'when I was a kid' you didn't misbehave because everybody knew who you were. ("And mum said that if grandad found out, we'd all be in trouble"). So someone asked, surely you got up to some things you shouldn't have, didn't you? Oh well yes. David recalled how they got hold of a canoe and paddled it down the sewer, "about 14 of us, I don't think anyone found out about that".
