h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This last week has really been one of the happiest ones I have spent for a long time. A very dear friend very kindly offered to take me up to London so that we could take part in a demonstration on the TradeJustice for the poorer countries. I accepted her help willingly and off we went, in the guards van on Wednesday morning. We arrived and the sun was shining. the traffic was overwhelming and the fumes were dreadful. Anyway we joined up with a wonderful bunch of people from Sheffield.
We arrived at the Cental Methodist church Hall and there were masses of people all with banners, and huge blowup FreeTraid Bananas, and hundreds of green helium filled Cafod balloons. We were going to meet our local MPm at 2.15 so moved onto the Houses of Parliament to meet our group. Although I have a mobile I am not at all sure how to use it so this was the perfect opportunity. My friend "parked" my wheelchair in front of St. Margaret's opposite the door of the Houses of Parliament and went off to find our group. I was sitting loving the sun, and revelling in having so many young active and enthusiastic young people all around. All of a sudden a group of four bobbies arrived, the one stood in front of me and said sternly
"Madam you are not allowed to park here. If you do not move I shall have to clamp you"!
Well, I nearly fell out of my wheelchair laughing and he went off. I saw him again later and thanked him for having made my day. He replied
"Madam, if you do not move I shall have to give you a parking ticket for loitering".
This caused a second outburst of laughter. How marvellous to be treated like a human being instead of a zombie in a wheelchair.
Coming home in the train, travelling in luxury in the guards van with one bicycle and two push chairs, we were astonished to find not one, not, two, not even three but four bicycles plus their riders crowiding into our comfy little zone.
I let out a shriek and insisted that we must be the most rewarding of all the train's passengers on the train. Fortunately one of the riders was unable to get beyond my friend and I and we had a wonderful time meeting him. It was his wedding anniversary and he was a trumpet player in a well known group as well as being a Professor of the instrument at a well known musical istitution.
What a gorgeous, wonderful day. I was over the moon and have continued on that high ever since.

it sounds that you had wonderfull intresting day.

keep on

Thanks so much We have such similar interests. I did not know that Fairtrade was started by the Body shop. I thought it was an organisation started in order that the producers in the poorer countries could get a fair price for their crops!. I am very stupid!! AR1

I know that Fairtrade is the BodyShop worked from the the start.
The lady who founded asked local workers to create packaging for some of their produtct. soI think they are one of first.

you probilly know this webpage http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/

Hi pheloxi, No I did not have that website.Thank you so much for it. You are a mine of information!!. I have just gone to it and downloaded quite a lot of material. It is nice to have it on record. Last year about six of us old "greyheads" did a course on Development in the Third World(questionable title). We did quite a lot of theoretical work and it was very interesting. That is the wonderful thing about being old; one can do all sorts of things which one believes in. I hope that you have had a good day. It has been glorious here in Kent. Sleep tight. AR1

I think the internet is souce for a lot of things. it is hard to find things. it is maze sometimes. I have anoying thing that I can find nearly everything with my 5 years of experience on the internet.

pheloxi
a cybernaut exploring cyberspace
I do it for a and/or so that you do not have a miss.

Dear pheloxi So I can rely on you to keep me up to date on the web - for a !! Always. I have just found another website the National Psioritic Foundation and have joined it. That is my problem in my joints - I have Psioritic Arthritis - hence the wheelchair. So the internet does help a lot to keep one informed and also about new treatments. Have a good day. Kind regards AR1