One of my worst passengers surprisingly (or not)

Was a traffic cop.

Gets in with his missus and elderly mum and dad.

They've been at the old couples anniversary bash.

Pretty soon the swearing starts.

This is what some people do when they want to show you how "street" they are.

His old dear tells him to quiet down but he ignores her and demands that I put the foot down.

"You trying to get me done" I say.

"Dinna worry pal ehm a traffic cop eh'll get ye aff"

I snort with derision as I've heard that one before.

"No he is" says his missus, almost aplogetically.

The rest of the journey is listening to this guy effing and blinding all the way home berating anything he can think of, my car, my driving his wife, workmates and the world in general.

This is one bitter dude.

When we get to his place he climbs a fence and urinates in his neighbour's garden.

I've got some mates who are proper coppers as it were and they hold the traffic guys in complete contempt.

Never there when things get nasty, never back you up in a scrap, that kind of thing.

Now I can see why.

Been stopped by them once or twice and they always try the good cop, bad cop routine, like they're in some crap old movie.

Stick to chasing boy racers chaps.   

Katherine

Because the company I worked with had a Health Board contract I was always picking up medical staff  from the local hospitals.

One of my favourite customers was black South African nurse called Katherine.

She was quite a big lass with a brilliant bubbly personality, always happy and full of the joys of life.

I always got my Sunday name from her and it was usually "Good  morning Michael and how are you today?" in that great precise Afrikkan accent.

The only thing that hacked her off was some of her nursing colleagues.

She could never understand why young women in Scotland could come to their work and openly boast about how drunk they were the previous night or how they could (and this was a major Katherine gripe) smoke in public.

"Girls in my home town would be disgraced if they behaved in such a way" she would say.

Made me think of a mate of mine who taught briefly in Botswana and he would say that if a kid misbehaved in school the whole family would turn up and apologise to the teacher.

Loads of problems in Africa these days but with people like Katherine there is a great deal of hope.

Sheesh this is heavy stuff. Next post will be a good old taxi tale.