Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 3 degrees, very cold, overcast, and almost rainy.
When I decided to come to England to spend time with my mother, I never saw it as a holiday.
It was more of a necessity to resolve family problems and see if my mother was OK. My perspective on this visit has changed; it is now more of a holiday, redemption, putting myself together, deciding my future, and many other things and feelings that I didn’t think were possible.
My relationship with my mother has surprised me until now. It was always troubled with a certain sprinkling of bitterness and animosity. Where has all this stress, bitterness, and a little hate gone? I can’t see it anymore, or at least at the moment, it is not there like before.
My mother is still extremely manipulative and domineering, and you have to give her limits because if not, she will still trample all over you with disrespect. However, I feel a level of acceptance that maybe has crept in with her old age. She doesn’t have the physical strength or stamina to do all the bad things she did in the past. I have written many times in the journal about the power of acceptance. When we conform and accept a certain situation, life becomes easier and smoother and flows better, even when the problem is not necessarily resolved or to our liking.
My mother had to go to Brierley Hill, a small working-class industrial town in the past that is now a shadow of its former self.
I had a class to give, but I decided to cancel it, go to Bradley Hill with my mother, and walk around. I don’t normally cancel classes; if a pupil cancels, OK, it is their prerogative, they are paying me, and it is their choice. However, the teacher should never ever contemplate cancelling a class; it is a lack of professionalism, and if it were to happen more than once, probably in the short future, that teacher would definitely lose the pupil.
I pride myself on this, and it is one of my rules for giving classes: quality and reliability. However, as it is December, Christmas, the end of the year, and I am in England for the first time in more than 20 years, etc., I thought, just this once, and I will replace the class next week.
So, I went up in the car with my mother, and then I left her and walked around the Main High Street and the market. Comparing it with my childhood memories, I was very disappointed: a lot of vape shops, bullshit collectible shops that are trying to sell stuff that people don’t want or need or have any use for, and gaming shops and other bullshit shops that shows the real level of the region and the people from around here. It seems that I am being hard, and maybe I am, and a little unfair, but the once-admirable main shopping High Street of the town is now a deception for me.
After an hour of walking around and down the main High Street, the Merry Hill shopping centre may be another significant reason why Brierley Hill is not what it was. England’s second-largest shopping centre was built on the site of an old steel plant that was closed down during Thatcher’s government. It has been around for about 30 years and is enormous, at least twice the size of Barra Shopping in Rio.
I then walked to Merry Hill, a good two-kilometre walk, and entered the enormous trade palace. It is very well laid out, with lightly coloured marble floors and walls, a four—to five-metre-high ceiling with glass skylights, and an atrium.
The shopping centre was full for a working day—OK, but this is Christmas. Still, I think people don’t work as much as in Brazil. Their personal lives and free time are a priority in England, and I think the English government facilitates this too. In contrast, in Brazil, people focus more on working to survive and pay the bills.
Walking around, the variety is amazing. Before going back, there will be many things to buy for everybody in Brazil, including myself. Hopefully, after Christmas, the sales should start, and maybe I will be able to buy some things.
While walking around, I think I found the cheapest trainers in the shopping centre for just under £40, which is about R240 Reais—not too bad. I continued walking and noticed some beautiful men’s clothes in M&S. I believe the key word here is abundance. Nowadays, English people are accustomed to abundance and variety in everything. In addition to the abundance, there’s also convenience. It is easy to shop and accumulate debt here, too.
There was an enormous Tesla stand in one of the main corridors, which was very impressive. After spending about two or three hours walking around the shopping centre, which is a record for me, I caught the bus back to my mother’s, happy as hell, and nobody died; what an enjoyable day.
My mother later had to go to the doctor’s, and on her way back, she bought us fish and chips—another English delight!
In bed by 11 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
