Autobiography

Ralph, Mum and Me, 1951
I was reminded of this distressing moment in
my young life when driving past Hurstpierpoint
College one day. A rugby ball bounced out of
the hedge in front of my Bentley. I slammed
on the brakes to avoid running over the ball,
and a young boy of about ten years of age
emerged through the hedge, scooped it up and
called out, ‘Thank you, sir.’
I tell the story because my ball, all those years
ago, was in the middle of Green Street for
what seemed to be an eternity with the trolley
bus bearing down on it, but it didn’t stop. It
just ran it over. I would have been mortified if
I had run over that boy’s rugby ball.
Yet, meanness of spirit has not diminished with
the passing of the years.
Recently when I was in traffic I watched a
woman with two small children waiting to cross
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