You know the other day it was a boiling hot sunny day and we were walking past a inner city school.The school was coming out.This is the school where beahviour is so excellent that 6 Special Constables have had to be drafted in to maintain public order at the bus stop every afternoon.It is run by the Church or England or so it says on the Board in a beautiful Georgian Building.The odd Yellow "Incident Board"is dotted about the vicinity.A schoolboy robbed here,an assault there-they read,forlornly appealing for witnesses.The school consists it is a fact of deprived Inner city kids from a nearby massive council estate featuring it has to be said a goodly proportion of Overseas Stayers Families.Enough said.Now naive folks from the country naturally assume that these Inner City Schools are much like Kes,or Melody,Or the Oz future thinking schools where the liberal teeches are all luvvy duvvy and everything is romantic and so there poor but kind hearted.VERY modern and with it,broad minded,tolerant,tech smart,in short modern Tony Blair University material in the school of excellence.The 1970s come full circle in a glorious attainment of academic excellence.At least thats what we though and expected from the neighbourhood.A middle aged fat geezer on a bike was riding past.Shirtless.The sort of guy you might see on Southend Beach with a Ford Escort and a famaily of four.A good old British working class male.Ok he was no Atlas but his shirtless state lapping up the sun looked healthy.It was then that a great contrast struck me.Most of the pupils were attired from head to toe in depressing black scarves,"yashmaks",long nasty cheap black and blue polyester robes and the like.When they saw the guy as he passed every now and again they would make comments in unison as they stared at his stark white skin.These comments were one word shouted loudly so he could hear.It was the word "Yuk"or "Uuugh".The guy didnt care.He looked better than them.It was then that I understood something.Someone had trained these kids to say this to think like this.This wasnt tolerance this was extreme narrow mindedness
of the worst and most reprehensible sort.Would anyone ever say to them "Ugggh?"I wonder.