The massed ranks of frowners.

The teens were boisterous but not nasty, okay they were consumed with themselves, not really noticing other people around them, but they weren’t being out of order. Okay their language was a bit raw, but they weren’t being too loud.  And okay their amorous touches and slurps were a bit much for public, but hey they were 15 what harm were they doing?

So why were all the other people on the tram frowning and tut-tutting at them? What had these 2 girls and 2 boys done to attract the wrath of the middle-aged? I wasn’t frowning, I found them cute, reminding me of my own teenaged years, (although I’d never had quite the success with girls that these two lads were having.) I think their crimes was to remind the rest of us that we were getting old, to remind us that we were no longer carefree and innocent (or not so innocent judging by where her hands were.)

But when we were their age we were like that, we were loud and selfish and horny, we used words that we shouldn’t have and we hated it when the massed ranks of the grown up world tut-tutted at us. So why can’t we forgive those who are behaving like we did? Why can’t we just let them be and smile at their youth? When did we go from being the hated to being the haters? And why does human nature make us repeat that cycle?

Then from nowhere the sound of thunder and the boys collapsing with laughter, the taller one had let rip* and the tram filled with the most putrid smell imaginable, I felt my face change, the smile disappear, the grooves on my forehead formed. To my horror I had joined the frowners.

*let rip = break wind 


If you enjoyed this, you might well enjoy my novel Maggie’s Milkman. Click here for more details.