[jambutty]

Back in the late seventies, my son then about 6 years old was playing in his bedroom when for reasons best known to himself he decided to pack some clothes in a carrier bag and unknown to us set off down the road with it slung over his shoulder on a stick.

A few hundred yards away a caring adult spotted him, must have thought it strange to see a small child walking down the road with a bag on a stick over his shoulder, stopped him, asked who he was and where he was going, found out where he lived and brought him home.

Would that happen today? Unlikely. He would have been left to wander on.

Nowadays you daren’t smile back at a child when it looks at you or smiles at you and many do as they get dragged along on a shopping trip. It’s no wonder that many older people are labelled ‘miserable old gits’ as they walk around with almost a frown on their faces for fear of being verbally abused if they just happen to smile at a child. The fixed frown prevents you from smiling inadvertently.