Wednesday 8 July 2009

A Smooth Criminal...

On the tram on the way to work it seemed a usual quiet morning until a class of children aged around nine or ten boarded the tram to take them to a visit of some kind. The seats in the main car are arranged in fours: two pairs of seats facing each other. There were two spare seats facing me and the teacher firmly but politely told the children to sit down. Two young girls sat opposite me and started to chat amongst themselves whilst the other children filed past to the remaining seats.

Whilst he was passing, one of the boys leaned over to the girl closest to the aisle and accused, "You're a killer. You killed Michael Jackson!", to which she proclaimed, "I didn't. I didn't." Her friend, in a supportive manner, put her hands on her hips, sighed and said through gritted teeth, "For the last time, she didn't kill Michael Jackson!"

The tram journey continued and the free Metro newspaper was passed from child to child to read, though from what I could tell this consisted mainly of quickly turning pages until they were all turned, then passed on quickly. The young girl who had protested her friend's innocence so fiercely piped up, "I want to read the newspaper. I want to read about Michael Jackson, God rest his soul. He writ all the best songs." I wondered what Michael would think of her English. Just when I thought she couldn't be any more entertaining, she said, "I think he's gonna arise from the dead anyway, y'know, like in Thriller." The innocence and imagination of youth, what a joy. But then again, knowing Michael Jackson...