it's like that

Let's Hope That Works

The very first thing I remember is not a face or an image but a smell you see we were living not far from the gas yard but that wasn't the smell that I could first remember it was the smell of the bakery on another part of the bogside there was only one thing that could only have that smell freshly baked gravy rings, and believe me they tasted as good as they smelt like I said at the start this is about where I grew up had loving parents three brothers and one sister and believe me that was a small family you see the Catholic Church believed if we shagged all day and night u that we would out grow our Protestant neighbours so there you had it kids kick outside to play while mum and dad were at it like rabbits but what no one would use is a condom as in the Catholic Church it was deemed a sin to put on a rubber Johnny's so that was the churches way of getting a united Ireland to out shagg the Protestant population.
Anyway like I'm saying we might as well start from my first day at school all mum's very proud of taking there children to their first day off school, shoes shined hair combed and smiles all round the place until it was time for the parents to leave you there and then all hell broke out all you saw was tears and snotters everywhere even one person climb out of the the window to run after her parents.
But you see most of the children were I grew up with parents had no job so they had to buy on the drip and paid weekly if they could afford it I remember once I was in a friend's house when the collector came and his mum asked me to say that she was away out so there I was with my straightest face and went to answer the door she's not in I said looking at him in the eyes the words he responded with was the next time she goes out tell her not to forget her feet and legs and as I turned around all I saw was her feet behind the curtains you see I grew up with everything that any working class family in the western world had.
But you see that in world where I was from is two different back grounds theirs and ours but as I said from the start this is about the same things that anyone at an stupid age would go through.
You see I will tell you what it was like in the North of Ireland between 1970 to 1986 especially in the most beautiful city in the world, and the best people who looked out for one another.
If you recognise your neighbourhood in my story you will realise that even know what we went through as a people we still had the same worries as any teenagers of that  time.
As you might realise by now I was not educated at university I hadn't even finished school I'm working class and proud to be anyway fuck that this is what I will always look at the funny part of the troubles like I said like most young people in the world between the 70's and the 80's in the North of Ireland you know no colour of your skin was that made you stand out and by the way no one has a right ever to look at the colour or the religion of anyone and put that person in one category or another to that I will always stand against.
I will promise you all that I have met alot of good friends from England so never let anyone tell you that this is anti English this story is about anti establishment no matter what country you come from an evil government hurts there own people ask the miners from Wales and the North of England so this is in no way is anti people  just anti thatcher and the mistakes that how a government can get it so wrong