The meaning of life in post codes ........
Today I attended a conference.
The speaker was excellent and I learned a good deal from the wisdom she shared.
But I sat on the edge.
On the edge of the conference.
On the edge of delegates.
I separated myself.
Increasingly I find that I prefer my own company.
Some years ago my attention was drawn to my habit of always sitting in meetings at the end of a row sometimes with a whole row of separation between me and the other attendees. Even now in the Cinema, the Theatre or at a concert I prefer a seat on the end of a row where I can relax. Put me in the centre where the view is supposedly better and I stress, but on the end of row with an easy escape route, then I can relax and enjoy the show even if my sightline is a little off to the left or the right.
I guess that it is true to say that I have never been a 'clubbable' person. My hobbies from cycling to motorcycling have been activities that I have undertaken on my own without company.
As my PE Teacher commented in a school report: 'not a team player'.
During today's conference at the lunch break I had a long conversation with the person attending the bookstall.
It was during that conversation that I learned something about myself.
It is something that is reflected in the postcode of my new address. I live very close to the boundary between Northumberland and Durham and whilst I live in Northumberland I have a DH postcode. As a consequence parcels often arrive addressed to either Shotley Fields, Durham or Shotley Fields, Northumberland.
It's good to keep folk guessing.
Of course as we discussed post code definition the person I spoke with expressed surprise that they were only introduced in 1959, (she was a little younger than me!) at first as a trial in Norwich then gradually over a fifteen year period until by 1974 they were fully introduced across the UK.
There was of course resistance I remember my parents simply refusing to countenance them. 'They' will know where we live, who we are, 'they' will know our business.
It would be interesting to reflect on what post codes tell us.
They define societies, wealthy areas and poor areas are delineated by their postcodes, as individuals climb societies ladder so they aspire to a better post code as they hit the snakes in the board game of life so they may descend to a post code that reflects their declining status.
SW1W 0AD is the postcode for Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The postcode for Brixton Tube Station is SW9 8HE.
Maybe my sense of separation and isolation was the simple fact that almost everyone in the room had an NE postcode whereas I was the only person with a DH postcode.
Maybe if I hit lucky and climb the ladder of life my fortunes will be reflected in a change of postcode although I find it hard to recall what particular snakes led me to DH.
The river is a boundary, on one side DH on the other NE, so it seems that my own determination to opt for a quieter more isolated life which I can spend with my memories and my new partner has led me from CA to NE to DH.
Life on the borderline has much about it that is good and wholesome I have no need to be in the mix or at the centre of things just happy to be a medium sized fish in a medium sized pool where the water is quiet.
The speaker was excellent and I learned a good deal from the wisdom she shared.
But I sat on the edge.
On the edge of the conference.
On the edge of delegates.
I separated myself.
Increasingly I find that I prefer my own company.
Some years ago my attention was drawn to my habit of always sitting in meetings at the end of a row sometimes with a whole row of separation between me and the other attendees. Even now in the Cinema, the Theatre or at a concert I prefer a seat on the end of a row where I can relax. Put me in the centre where the view is supposedly better and I stress, but on the end of row with an easy escape route, then I can relax and enjoy the show even if my sightline is a little off to the left or the right.
I guess that it is true to say that I have never been a 'clubbable' person. My hobbies from cycling to motorcycling have been activities that I have undertaken on my own without company.
As my PE Teacher commented in a school report: 'not a team player'.
During today's conference at the lunch break I had a long conversation with the person attending the bookstall.
It was during that conversation that I learned something about myself.
It is something that is reflected in the postcode of my new address. I live very close to the boundary between Northumberland and Durham and whilst I live in Northumberland I have a DH postcode. As a consequence parcels often arrive addressed to either Shotley Fields, Durham or Shotley Fields, Northumberland.
It's good to keep folk guessing.
Of course as we discussed post code definition the person I spoke with expressed surprise that they were only introduced in 1959, (she was a little younger than me!) at first as a trial in Norwich then gradually over a fifteen year period until by 1974 they were fully introduced across the UK.
There was of course resistance I remember my parents simply refusing to countenance them. 'They' will know where we live, who we are, 'they' will know our business.
It would be interesting to reflect on what post codes tell us.
They define societies, wealthy areas and poor areas are delineated by their postcodes, as individuals climb societies ladder so they aspire to a better post code as they hit the snakes in the board game of life so they may descend to a post code that reflects their declining status.
SW1W 0AD is the postcode for Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The postcode for Brixton Tube Station is SW9 8HE.
Maybe my sense of separation and isolation was the simple fact that almost everyone in the room had an NE postcode whereas I was the only person with a DH postcode.
Maybe if I hit lucky and climb the ladder of life my fortunes will be reflected in a change of postcode although I find it hard to recall what particular snakes led me to DH.
The river is a boundary, on one side DH on the other NE, so it seems that my own determination to opt for a quieter more isolated life which I can spend with my memories and my new partner has led me from CA to NE to DH.
Life on the borderline has much about it that is good and wholesome I have no need to be in the mix or at the centre of things just happy to be a medium sized fish in a medium sized pool where the water is quiet.
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