pearls

Coffee with Bank Executive Jackie.
I don't know what she's worth to the world of international finance but she's worth a hundred million dollars to me.
Well you know what I mean.
She listened to my tale of woe.
I still couldn't believe I'd walked over to the skanger in the Whitewater Centre.
Only I knew how close it had come to a brawl.
The skanger couldn't know.
Because he doesn't have a brain.
Jackie listened.
She said:
"I met a senior manager once. She was an Afro Carribean lady. Very capable and a black belt in Karate. She would get a lot of hassle from the sort of people you met. I asked her how she handled it. She told me that you've always got to bear in mind that if someone is insulting you in a public place like that, they know something about themselves that you don't know. It might just be that they're carrying a knife. Or that they've already been up in court for assault. Or that they're on drugs. Yes, they know something about themselves that you don't know. So you've just got to walk away. Nobody normal tries to provoke people in public like that. Nobody. The one thing you can be sure of is that these are not normal people or healthy people or happy people."
I listened to Jackie and felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
"James," she said. "You're a good person. You're kind to everybody. You wouldn't hurt a fly. You're a religious person. And you're a strong person. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is walk away. Remember this. The only power people have over you is the power you give them."
When she had gone I sat alone for a good half hour.
Eventually my cousin Yankee Joe breezed in.
I told him what had happened.
When I got to the salient point of the story he interrupted.
"Aw Heelers you didn't," he groaned. "You know the rules. Don't get involved. It's their problem. You leave that stuff behind you at school."
He continued in like manner for some time.
His advice was more invectival than Jackie's containing quite a dollop of personal reproof for me.
I heard the wisdom in it.
And finally.
When Yankenstein had gone.
What light from yonder cafe breaks.
Why it is the east.
And Hoddlebun is the sun.
She entered stage left.
As she listened to my story a slow growing delight suffused her patrician features.
"Oh wow," she enthused with strange high inappropriateness. "You actually called them scum? I wish I'd seen it."