Hadn’t said farewell to Mo for too long before Sami poked his head around the door, saw me and made his way over to my table.
“Do you want another coffee, Richard? Double espresso?”
“Hey Sami! Good to see you: yes please!”
Sami’s not one to engage in too much small talk, wanting instead to explore his opinions and ideas, as well as keeping me abreast of the latest developments of the continuing saga of the Post Office scandal, of which he was a real victim. He’s personally got over it, taken an acceptable offer of compensation, and is rebuilding his life with his new partner Lisa. (See PC 335 ‘Lisa Wallace – My story’ May 2023 (Ed: This is interesting!))
“You saw that Betty Brown, the 92-year-old former subpostmistress from County Durham, was appointed an OBE in last December’s New Year Honours list? It took her twenty-two years to secure justice for herself and her late husband; lives destroyed!
The scandal’s no longer headline news but everyone’s eagerly awaiting the outcome of the police investigation to see who will be charged.”
“You think that will ever happen? These things have a habit of festering for so long, with prevarication and obscuration, that many on both sides will have died and someone will say: ‘What’s the point?’. It’s like the Infected Blood Scandal (see PC 392 Hope Continues (June 2024) and PC 420 Contentious Issues in the UK for 2025 (January 2025).)”
“You’re becoming cynical as you get older Richard! Incidentally not sure what’s your view but we seem to have got our knickers in a twist when it comes to a person’s background, heritage and ancestry. Being curious, I am often asking new people I meet what they do and, frankly, if they are a person of colour as I am, where they’re from.” (Note 1)
“Do you remember about three years there was a hoo-hah at some Buckingham Palace reception when Lady Susan Someone asked a delegate, Charity founder Ngozi Fulami, where she was from, and not happy with the answer “I was born in the UK”, asked: “No! Where are you really from?””
“What’s the issue? I met a lovely couple of junior doctors many years ago, both the result of mixed marriages, and asked the chap, who looked like me, Eurasian, where he was from. “Nottingham!” and I so nearly asked, for no other reason than curiosity: “No! Where were you from originally?” but never did!
“A Gunner friend is in the process of penning his autobiography, not for public consumption but for his grandchildren. He let me read a couple of drafts of some parts and I know his intended audience will be fascinated. He thought I was doing the same, sort-of, writing of my life’s experiences in my weekly postcards. That hadn’t occurred to me, that I was writing my own autobiography, albeit in instalments and interspersed with contemporary observations and thoughts. Hey Ho!”
“Your weekly postcards Richard ….. I enjoy most of them ……..”
“Someone the other day told me they don’t have time which, given that they are a mere 5-minute read, is a sad reflection of modern life. I get more ‘likes’ and comments for some than others. The one that keeps surfacing is PC 461 “Bumped into Sami!” from October 2025 ……”
“Ha! I remember, we had a coffee in Gail’s and chewed the fat upstairs, mainly about weight-loss drugs as a way of tackling obesity. Sorry for the unintended pun! I imagine you saw that BBC report that GP Surgeries in England are to be paid an average of £3000 a year in bonuses to prescribe weight loss drugs?? (Note 2) Seriously not the way to go; get a bonus for everyone who signs up to some exercise programme!! But what else to you do to keep the brain from going to mush, apart from your beloved hot yoga?”
“Mmm! I do the daily Sudoku puzzles in The Times and occasionally paint something. Look (reaching for my iPad) ….. the composition on the right for Amber House’s communal hall is new, linked to another from some years ago by three little squares.
and by our internal apartment door, four little canvases …..
“I like both, a lot!”
Two other observations, Sami. Firstly, we had to go to the cremation of a dear friend the other day. She’d chosen some songs by Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner, so the tone was as light-hearted as these things can be. The service was conducted by Aileen Smart, who needed some reading glasses to read the tribute. The frames themselves were enormous, obviously quite heavy and they gradually slipped down her nose. As everyone would, she simply pushed them back up the bridge, only for gravity to impose itself once again and the whole action was repeated. Once or twice …… but I became mesmerised as her habit continued and my attention drifted from what she was saying!
The other concerned our yoga studio, where we had a new student the other week. If I can, I try to pass on a couple of bits of advice before they start: breathe through your nose, not your mouth and don’t drink water during class if you can help it. His reply to the latter was: “Ramadan started yesterday evening (17th February) and I can’t drink until sunset, so won’t be a problem.” This conversation was on the first day of Lent in the Christian calendar (18th February this year) so then I got into a discussion with myself about how it was apposite that devout Christians would be foregoing goodies for 40 days, at the same time as Muslims would be fasting for 28. My ignorance about the finer details of Islam prompted a Google search. I knew the dates of Ramadan progressed earlier each year but didn’t know by how much – it’s 11 days. Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar, which is itself based on the cycles of the moon.
“Well! Well! Well! Richard. Thank you!”
Richard 6th March 2026
Hove
Note 1 Sami’s mother was English and father Indian, so he’s classified as Eurasian.
Note 2 Of course very overweight people will eventually cost the NHS a great deal of money, so I assume this is the reason for encouraging them to take a weight-loss drug.
postcards 