Talk talk

When I was growing up
I knew nothing about sectarianism, it was a subject that never came up.
Or anything about ethnic prejudice or colour or creed or football.
Politics wasn't talked about much either apart from which party were in power and who the leaders were.

Both my Father and my Mother were gregarious and accomplished conversationalists.
People would come for miles to visit them and they could talk and hold peoples attention for hours on end.
My Father would not allow swearing or any kind of crude talk in our home. We were not allowed to swear. And I've seen him stopping people half way through a story if he thought it was getting too crude for us to hear.
People would also come to my parents for advice and sometimes for help and they would always do what they could for them.

Some things you don't notice until you begin to grow up and see how other people live.
My parents always taught us to respect people and never make fun of anyone. What they were saying was - Who you are is not in someone else's gift and also who you are should not depend upon having to make someone smaller or less than you.
Even though as Travellers my parents and family were at times denied the respect they showed to others this sense of the will to show people respect was immutably ingrained in our psyche.