Tony was unusual. He still is in fact which belies the fact that he is highly placed in the education 'industry' and has just completed his PhD. He could be said to be eccentric. Wikipedia says:
"Eccentricity is not, as some would believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd."
Certainly Tony wasn't too concerned at what the crowd thought, a trait which usually got us thrown out of parties and at least once got Richard and I beaten up.
Tony started at the wholesalers before me and recommended me to the management. They didn't fire him so they must have thought I was OK. Tony and I shared a full-time job by splitting up the days of the week and attending University on our days off. He was studying 'Classics' - Latin, Old English, Norse Mythology etc - so you can imagine the sort of classmates he had. I think though that there were only about 3 of them as it wasn't the most popular degree course. I think that his studies added to his strangeness. I remember once that he made a suit of cardboard 'armour' and marched up and down in it. A customer's little boy peeped out to the warehouse and saw Tony doing this. Tony could belch on demand (another social skill that helped to get us thrown out of parties)and when he saw the little boy he let rip with a roar-like burp. The boy burst out crying and ran back to his mother who gave us some pretty strange looks. I imagine that the kid is still traumatised.
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That was when Murray Roberts was taken over by Wrightson NMA, later Wrightsons. they issued the regular staff with uniforms, but not the students. Tony made his own outfit out of cardboard and paper bags designed to hold bottles. A little later they issued us all with Wrightsons shirts. I've left out the possessive apostrophe because I can't remember if it was Wrightson's or Wrightsons'. As I remember it, they didn't use a possessive apostrophe.
Your long-term memory is better than mine. Maybe you're becoming senile sooner.
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