1970s North-west England
Some moments in life are educational in ways you would never expect. University was just such an experience for me. I was now living in a big city, the twin cities of Manchester-Salford in north-west England, managing my own affairs, and school meant a lot of self-direction rather than just lectures, and for the first time I saw people who were clearly ‘foreign’ to me. And it all began with my arrival at university.
Another student, Dave, and I had signed up for student halls and together we traveled to Manchester by train. At the university, we joined the line for our student accommodation where I was given a room. Dave, however, wasn’t. There was no internet back then, everything was done by mail, and something had gone awry with his application. I suggested he sleep in my room until he found a place to stay. That was against the rules. We decided to find an apartment together and split the cost.
The few nearby hotels were beyond our means so that night we slept on benches at the rail station where some nice ladies offered us beds -- but we couldn’t afford their prices either. Next day, we signed up for classes and searched for and found a flat. We moved in that evening. The following day at university, Dave was hard to find. When we did re-connect, it was evening back at the flat and he was packing. I learned he’d booked his train ride home and I now needed a new flat mate.
That too turned out to be an education.
