No problem Barbara, but re London, luckily we are all different, for me, personally, I would find life in a City ‘hell’, absolutely no desire to live in one, ok to visit, for an hour or two, but even historic Vannes, enjoy a very occasional visit, but never sorry to leave 
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Barbara, I for one have absolutely no problems with your style of writing. On the contrary, I find it warm, engaging, clear and gentle, even in the face of the merciless teasing and baiting you seem to attract at times.
I like your reminiscences about London too. I left my Birmimgham home as a teenager (18) in 1956 and lived there for five magical and life-changing years, in Hackney of all places. To me, E9 is more wonderful than Rome, Venice or even Berlin and Mombasa rolled into one. I get comfort out of spinning a yarn of old experiences too, and no-one is forced to read them. 
You write charming prose, please don’t lose heart of feel discouraged, you have me as an enthusiastic fan! 
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Oh gosh Hackney was at school there and my mother worked in the pie and Mash shop
“Cooks” in Ridley road.
I was never enchanted by the area and I believe that it has changed so much.
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The demographic of Hackney has changed almost out of all recognition, it has become gentrified and almost ruined in that respect, but not in my memory, brought back by walking it streets.
Hackney eh? It’s not just Essex we have in common Pete.
My Dad was born (1942) and grew up in Hackney. He lived on the Kingsmeade Estate right up until he married my Mum in 1966. His family was very poor. He never really talked about it very much but I know he suffered as a child. His parents were determined to give him a better education than theirs so he was able to stay at school until he was 16 and then got a good job with prospects. We were never rich but he made sure we had all that we needed as kids.
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My mother grew up just south of Hackney in a Poorhouse for a while in the 20s. Unrecognizable now of course, but she actually had happy memories of the place.
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I think that people of that time and place made the best of what they had.
I enjoy watching films about those long dark days and how they were made so bright with laughter, family gatherings and outings to the coast of Kent.
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Yes they made the best of things and of course what passed for normal life then was very different. My mother’s route to adulthood was poorhouse, orphanage, domestic service and the 2nd World War so the account you portray wouldn’t ring too many bells for her I’m afraid.
Hi again Bill,
I never used to drink when the ship was sailing but I made up for it in port though rarely excessively.
I hardly ever drink nowadays but will have a few glasses if friends come to visit.
Always enjoy your posts Barbara even though I don’t always agree with your views. Being dyslexic must have been tricky to cope with at times ?
Mandy, supporting Spurs at times makes me want to turn to the bottle, anything really just to numb the pain of watching their defence over the decades !!
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Yes Peter my problem gets in the way.
No of course you do not agree with many of my views.
But some of the time I am right about my feelings regarding a subject.
However I am managing my life well.
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I have hope for this season Peter. We have a good team and a chance for silverware. Just need to get that pesky stadium sorted out.
That’s an embarassment and calls for a points reduction as a penalty are ridiculous !! Supporter safety has to come before anything and all ood things are worth waiting for…
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Hi, I refrained from answering you question in the opening post for 2 main reasons Barbara.
- I wasn’t sure if the Q “Drinking alcohol.
Do you drink socially or has it become a habit which can get out of control? " was rhetorical, and secondly, by the time I had read the others posts I had forgotten the initial Q.
- The implication that because of the way you answer, or enter into dialogue with other threads; makes you a heavy drinker….I personally found out long ago, that trying to read sentiment in forums can be quite difficult unless you know the person quite well.
If you are a heavy drinker OR NOT…is not for me to judge or comment on really.
As for the way you write within SF; as for anyone, the way people respond to certain types of posts is usually down to the “drivers” or motivators, for things they feel passionate about. The way they construct sentences doesn’t mean they are drunk in doing so or not, but more of the way they think.
Some people are born/bred, and grow without filters of thought to mouth…and this is on a varying scale. I think mainly it is down to social upbringing…ie how we are told from early age .” you shouldn’t say things like that”… or “you say it this way”. So to cut a short story long… I think you write more or less as you think, and sometimes the sentences become incoherent or confused… I do this myself sometimes if rushed or angry.
Anyhow back to the drink… I think I am on about 14 units a week. Apparently that’s not too good, but we don’t go “pubbing” generally. This is usually a couple glasses of wine in the evening with the OH watching TV.
I wrote this before reading some of the last posts… so although did not read your dyslexia issue Barbara, my thoughts were sort of similar lines.
Bullying though is quite a subjective, a perpetrator may see it as a bit if banter ( and try and explain it as such), whereas to the receiver it can be very painful. Some have a problem looking through the receivers eyes.
Glenn
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Oh Glen pardon me for not understanding what you have written.
I drink about 6 units a year and that does not count as heavy drinking…does it;
For you or any one else to judge my writing ability and my honesty and to then decide that I am a heavy drinker
is not on.
There is a clear difference in drinking “socially” to drowning sorrows in a bottle or 3 a night. Anyone who wishes to indulge to that amount is a free agent.
And whilst it is ok for you to mention the banter and the bullying you are trying hard to get in on the act.
Maybe I have a degree in sentiment but could never imagine getting further than o level English.
I am also confused by your perceptions Glen.
I think a second reading of Glenn’s contribution might be worthwhile.
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I’m glad you wrote that Damian as I was going to say the same thing, the last two sentences show support to Barbara rather than jumping on the supposed ‘bullying’ bandwagon that she perceives is rampant on here and aimed at her exclusively.
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Yes Tim I am sure that you were going to say the same thing.
Well my sentimental topics seem to attract an audience some of the time.
Not so bad for a boozy lady who rarely drinks.
Au contraire Barbara, I have no wish to get in on the “act”. My reason for responding to your thread, were really to support you. I was not judging your writing ( in a way to be good or bad), but trying to empathise why you may write as you do.
I hope this is a little clearer to you.
best regards.
Ok Glenn but I have read it again…
You do mention social upbringing…do you not?
Does that change perception or a style of writing?
Hi Barbara,
Yes i did mention social upbringing. Your question, does it change the style… Style could mean different things.
I am going to say yes, in context to bring in “social upbringing” THIS IS AN EXAMPLE and not what you specifically do.
When children we are usually taught by adults and schooling, how we react to, and answer other humans. We gradually build a “social upbringing” into our brain. Therefore, the level we reach to be social with others will to a degree depend on that adult and schooling.
There are also other things that affect this social part, an example such as autism.
Personality traits, also i believe have a bearing on how we communicate/ construct sentences/grammar etc… so it is certainly not one thing, and certainly not being to worse the wear for drink.
I am sure deep down, all of us here know all the above anyway.
… A reason i know some of this “stuff”, is I have studied NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming… ( just google it if you want to waste a few minutes of your life)
cheers