Perspective

So, my council estate is very varied.

The dominant tendency is to WEC (White, European, Christian), and since they arrived on my street first, they tend to disparage the others, be they AM (African, Muslim), MEM (Middle-East, Muslim), or AV (Asian, Varied).

I've know them all for years, and I don't have any issue with the AM, MEM and AV - unlike the WECs, who tend to be disparaging at the first hint of anything different (oddly some MEMs join the WECs to bash the other communities).

Once more, this is one of the things that makes me feel like the Empress of Mars, because I'm not formatted like the bigoted bipeds on my street.

I love it when my neighbours of Vietnamese descent cook Asian dishes (I'm tempted to knock on their door and ask for the recipes).

The African kids aren't troublesome - if you don't treat them like lepers. We say 'Hello!', we smile at one another, and I've never had any issue if any of them.

Basically, the loud bipeds on my street are the ones who are unpleasant and nasty and arrogant (and a happy bunch of nosey busybodies, as well).

The plonkers downstairs have been insufferable with their loud music at night.

But on the other hand, each day, I can also hear the Indian family on my right... Each day, around tea time, I hear them laugh all together for about fifteen minutes; then, they're quiet again. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the beautiful, weird relativity of my life; if we were in the same staircase, I'd be sorely tempted to bake them a cake - for making me smile on the other side of the wall.