Diary Of A Busker Day 2463 Tuesday November 5th 2024 Winchester.
My first visitor at the top spot – a couple in their 70s down from Manchester. After donating, the man says ‘You won’t believe this but her brother was one of the Wombles!’ Well, I was too gobsmacked to ask which one, I mean how often does that happen – you meet someone who’s brother was a fucking Womble?! Anyway, they went for the “two-CDs-for £15, special deal just for today in Winchester”, so, nice people!
Next up, Andrew Napier – esteemed chief editor of the Hampshire Chronicle. He says my latest letter* (concerning my recent public urination) has had over 4,000 views on the website. I said I’d only had a couple of people come up to me and mention it – I suppose a lot of people might be embarrassed. Actually, I know some people think it’s hilarious – my son for one! I mentioned this to Andrew and he said ‘Well, it IS funny, and not funny at the same time. It’s a good job there were no coppers about – you might have been arrested!’
And lastly, another couple in their 70s come up. The woman seems a bit emotional as she presents a £10 note and says ‘Please have this…can you play Stairway To Heaven? My son…please…Stairway To Heaven?’
‘Well, I know the song but not really a solo instrumental version, just the main guitar bits.’
‘Anything, please…or anything you play, please.’
‘OK, I’ll try’ so I start it off and they go and sit on the bench. I manage to get through most of it (not very well) and am well into the end climactic guitar solo when they come over (and not a moment too soon, as I start to fuck it up when it gets really high) and she’s now very emotional. She says ‘Oh thank you…my son’s…dead’.
‘Sorry?’ I say. The man then says ‘Her son died in a motorbike accident.’
‘My son’s dead’ she says.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry’ I say. I mean, what else can you say?
She then gives me a fiver and I say ‘I’m so sorry, look, that’s very generous.’
‘I want you to have it, thank you’ – she takes my hand and thanks me again
‘Oh, I’m so sorry…’ I say, and then I don’t know what else to do apart from – ‘Please, PLEASE have these CDs’ and I pick both CDs up and hand them to her.
‘No, I’ll take one.’
‘Please take both of them…and I’m so sorry.’ She accepts the CDs and they go off.
It was awful – poor woman.
*The Hampshire Chronicle,
Thursday October 24th, 2024
Letters to the Editor
NO TOILETS AGONY
As a 62 year old man, I find it extremely embarrassing to have to urinate in public. Yet this was what I was forced to do after enduring a train journey from Clapham Junction and finding out, via an on-board announcement that there were no “working” toilets on the train bound for Southampton. This was bad enough but at least there would be some relief (literally, I thought) upon arriving at Winchester, whereupon I could make a quick dash for the toilets.
Unfortunately, on alighting from the train, I discovered the toilets shut at 8:30pm, 15 minutes before my train pulled in. So, what to do? I thought about getting a cab home but feared I might disgrace myself while on the way, so I decided to walk – I live a 10 minute walk away, however, after a couple of minutes, I was forced to relieve myself on the path leading from the underground walkway to the bus stop on Stockbridge Road. Fortunately there was no one about but that’s beside the point, which is; if there are no adequate facilities on a train, which is unacceptable on its own, surely the duty of a train station is to ensure the toilets are not shut for passengers requiring a toilet upon alighting, and there must have been many passengers desperate for a toilet on this particular train, which was full all the way from Clapham Junction.
Marvin B Naylor,
Greenhill Road,
Fulflood,
Winchester