Real poverty (From York Press)

We lived in a rolled up newspaper in a septic tank etc

I know a bloke who went out for a few drinks a couple of years ago and his so-called mates ripped up his only shoes. He was devastated. He went for the drink as part of a social group, because otherwise he'd be sat in his bedsit where he had no television. His so-called mates, who were better off than him, laughed, and didn't replace his shoes.

One could say they kicked him when he was down. Much as letter writers like you do. I'm surprised at people like yourself (what are you? 83-92 years old?) would do such a thing. So much for British society.

I've not given up my second bike.......

That's because you don't have to tax, insure or register it.

The letter writer has a point. To even have one car could be seen as extravagent. Our family hasn't had a car for my entire lifetime. When I was a kid my mum would go to town on the bus (of course back then the service was actually reliable!), and because the bus was an old Leyland it meant the buggy had to be folded and myself and all the shopping had to be carried on by mum on her own (compared to today's mollycoddled mums who complain when they have wheeled their buggy onto a bus that has kneeled down for them only to then have to fold up the buggy because there is a wheelchair user on board)... and then to take me to and from school mum had a special kids seat fitted on the back of her bike, until I was old enough to walk the 3/4 mile there (again, unlike today's kids who might live in the same street as the school but 5 minutes walk away and mum drives them there in the Zafira)... and now I have my own bike (well, two, one as a backup in case I have to put the other into my maintenance bay for a while).
Sometimes it can be annoying not having a car, but when finances are tight you prioritise: would you rather be well fed or arrive somewhere a few minutes earlier in an air conditioned metal box but hungry?

ak7274 wrote:
That's because you don't have to tax, insure or register it.

Do I detect a whiff of jealousy.....mind you the Rolls is still on the driveway of PP Towers, and I do ride in it once in a while.