Taking the moral high ground

Unless I’m much mistaken, the gentleman of a similar age next to me on the exercise bike in the gym is the man who ran the sweet shop in town for decades. Here we are now, both pedalling away in the mirror - getting nowhere and with our life’s work largely behind us.

I felt tempted to make comparisons. Forty years in education helping working class kids get on - often in the face of opposition not just from them but from their parents, too - set against a lifetime of providing tooth decay and diabetes for children of all ages.

Then I thought about how much I liked sweets as a child and how we still have sugary treats as part of our personal mission to take afternoon tea in every café in the country.

Be less judgemental and more tolerant, I reminded myself. People need jobs and I was lucky. Perhaps my choice of promoting our railway heritage should be diverted to the needs of the homeless or keeping the vegetation under control on the trail.

I can usually see the other point of view if I think about it long enough. I’d never have made a politician. Anyway, while I sort out my priorities going forward, here’s a nice picture of a railway engine.