Something in Common
SOMETHING IN COMMON Look at him: a sorry excuse for a man. He’s a year older than me but he still dresses like a teenager. He hasn’t made any effort to look half-way respectable; by the looks of his hair he hasn’t even had a shower, and he stinks of smoke. They walk together up the gravel path to the front door of the house they had known as children, and only occasionally as adults at Christmas. Look at her: Miss priggy. She’s a year younger than me but she dresses like an old lady; she’s all make-up and perfume, smells like a chemical laboratory. Her hairdo is ridiculous. They reach the door, ring the bell and wait, both of them looking straight ahead. I mean, what’s he done with his life? He sits about all day playing video games and smoking drugs; I don’t think he’s ever done more than a few weeks’ work in his life, but he’s been on benefits forever. He probably makes more off disability benefits than I do working full time, and nobody even knows wh...