Please refer to the immediately previous post for the essential background to this one.
1974 had kicked off with the last few days of the 3 day week. February and October had each seen a General Election in the UK, both returning a minority Labour government. In the summer, the Arabs had quadrupled the price of oil. UK inflation was heading towards 20%, and the UK stock market lost a massive two thirds of its value. At the time, however, none of this mattered much to me. By the end of the year I was a hoary old undergraduate with very long hair, and accustomed to drinking much gin and tonic. By the third week in December I was back home in Sheffield, feeling on top of my studies, and generally in very good spirits indeed. I gave a little talk at the Church Youth Forum about being a student, and got invited to a New Year’s Eve party that one of the girls there was holding. I was delighted to accept.
So, 31 December arrived and I turned up to the party with a bottle of gin, two pints of tonic, and 20 cigarettes, settled down in a corner, and proceed to smoke and drink. I remember that round about 10.30 someone stole what was left of the gin, which was about a third of the bottle. Shortly after, I became aware of a girl making amorous approaches to me. This was something of a first for me, as previously I had taken the initiative. After a few moments I twigged that this was none other than the mousey one! This came as a very pleasant surprise to me, and after “Old Lang Syne” she invited me home to meet her folks; another first! Bear in mind that at this time I had hair that hung beneath my shoulders and wore a fur coat I had got from an old aunt, and a little blue hat. Anyway, the first words her Dad said to me were, “Hello, would you like a drink?”. I took to this family straight away. The lady the mouse became is now my wife, and has been for some 34 years.
There was no more angst-drenched verse, although there have been a few more attempts at rhyming stuff of various sorts.
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