Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
jbjb Yah, I feel, I m really happy, em m, I think I m really lucky because of me upbringing
and that. I, I was brought up in the country, I m quite happy with my own company. And that
s something I do notice. People who actually live in cities or towns or whatever, they
don t seem to be able to survive on their own. They ve always got to have people around
them whereas, I m probably an anti-social *** whatever, shouldn t swear should I,
but, em, I m quite happy just being on my own, you know. Because there s telephones
and that if you wish to speak to someone, but, I m quite happy. I keep miserable on
me own. Or miserable with people. It don t matter so. Yah. I m fortunate in that sense.
Em, I know I don I think I m like a lot of people out in the community. I, I don t intend
to become a victim. I don t want to make myself a victim. You know. So Tina had quite a stable
em, family, being a husband for thirteen years. Did you have any stability in your own relationships.
Eh, I ve two, I ve had two long term relationships, which would be classed as long term. Well,
looked like ten years. Em but then as I say, because I m selfish, and I m quite antisocial,
the bits in between, I was quite happy like. Just going and that, packhorse to work and
that. What I do want to say, when I just said about people make themselves victims, I wasn
t meaning someone like Tina, because, I wasn Do I look like anybody s victim? No, exactly.
But is what I mean. I mean some people who actually come to through the office, you think,
habg on. You haven t really got a problem. People out there have got problems. Real problems.
So So how do you cope with that, psychologically. What, people coming in, what other people
coming in. Yeah. To be totally honest, I think it s because I have a sick sense of humour.
And I really think that helps because I think I won t. I think Tina worked that out about
after an hour after meeting me that I had a sick sense of humour. And, I think actually
that got me through life and that as well. I mean, some, maybe some of the things I ve
faced in other jobs and that and some people wouldn t be able to cope with it. Em oh I
in, in bit when I was in transport and that d been had about, I d been faced with shotguns,
I d been stabbed but all that, as far as I was concerned, is all part of the job so I
didn t like freaking out or anything, so, and that was because, the rest of the people
that worked in that company we all had sick sense of humours. And that s what helped.
So, that s why my life has gone on, that s why I tend to live it. Yeah, next moment,
I d be proved wrong now. hehehe Oh please. But, no true. I have a sick sense of humour.
And I really think that s what does it. You can you can laugh about a lot of things. Maybe
it s me hiding from things but, it works. Or has done so far, touch wood. Well that
s interesting. You say hiding from things. What kind of things. Well don t I don t mm,
excuse me, I don t know. I mean, some people say I never take things seriously and that.
Well I do, but I think similar to what Tina s saying, you em yeah, you use your sense
of humour as well, to actually yeah, break down barriers and things like that. Em I remember
couple of years ago, one of our service users, I had to I actually had to tell them someone
they s close to had died. Em, and she still talks about it today by the way I done it
because, I done it, it s like, treat it like an everyday sort of merit, sort of thing.
Em in fact, I tell you what I done. They came in and I said to them, out on the kettle and
make a cup of tea. Now I didn t make the tea for them. They went and made it and made me,
made me a drink as well. When they came back in, that s when I told them. Em Mr. Sensitivity
that. In that case it worked. But It comes from knowing people. Yeah. It worked that
way. Better for me to do it that way than when they first come in. So Tina, have you
met a whole lot of different friends in the trans group since you did your transition.
Heh, I think you are going to say I m really strange but I still don t really mix in the
trans world. I to me, there s no trans world, gay world, lesbian world. It s just a world.
I have as many I can count my genuine friends on, on the hands of, hands of both fingers?
Reverse that again. Edit it out. Fingers of both hands! But we have, we all have connections
in life and, by and large, mine are good. Now I ve I ve, measured my life by have I
met more good people than than bad, nice people than nasty people. Yeah, I have. Have I had
more smiles than tears. Well yeah, OK. There m still smiling. I have a lot of friends in
the LGBT family. Not all of them are gay. My son s best friend was brought up four lesbians
and two gay men. He has no memory of me previously and he thinks that, for God knows what reason
the sun shines out the part it shouldn t be shining from. Maybe that s because I m not
his mum. Maybe that s because he can talk to me as a detached mum but that s what I
ve been adopted as. I find it very very easy to talk to people and, I heard a wonderful
quote the other day. That maybe we should change this thinking from labels to badges
because a label is something you are given by somebody else. A badge is something you
choose to wear. So if you say, I m gay, or you say I m a lesbian, I m ***, whatever
you want to phrase it as, wear that badge, if that s your choice. Don t let somebody
else label you. Yeah? Somebody doesn t come and call me a tranny and get away with it.
To me, I m old. Trannies were radios. Gay still meant happy, you know? I, I did a briefing
with my team at Pride. Before we went on the parade we sat there wor, working out the parade
route. I said, Look, the first thing I want you to remember is that the origin of the
word gay is happy. So let s make sure everybody has a truly gay day. I want everybody to be
happy and smiling at the end of this. And that s that s what it is. Life you, you have
to measure it. If you are not happy, find out why. Perfect timing! Excuse me. That s
me son. Oh. That s on film that. You ignored his call. Yes, what it was is it s not my
son. It s my adopted son. All he all he is going to be asking me is, Are you alright?
Yes, I m fine dear. Sorry, how do I make this go quiet. Just like that. No, that s not it.
That s not. That s what I should do with mine. I was thinking, that s a great ending, but
do you want to add anything more? Only the fact that we are here. We are here because
we want to be, not because we get paid to be, because we don s true. Take that under
a fiver. I ll be happy with coffee, which I get. We re here because we want to be here.
None of us are saying we ve got all the answers. Kevin certainly doesn t. I certainly don t.
But we are prepared to listen to the questions. And we are prepared to listen to people with
a point of view, with a problem. And we re still learning as well. We learn everyday.
Yeah, this is exactly it. And, he is going to hate me for this. Absolutely hate me. But
I ve been promising to get him back for the marmite gag. (Kevin laughs). So prepared to
be embarrassed. This man gave me a purpose in life again. How? By allowing me to be involved
in this. I was sinking when I left work. I was sinking. I was a, I was adrift. And through
Kevin and Michelle, I have a purpose in life again. I can make a difference even if it
is one person in one month, knowing that they can come somewhere and just have a cup of
coffee and shoot the breeze. I m here. And that s because of Kevin and what he does.
Yeah, but I m grateful that you accepted the offer. That s a polite way of saying I was
a stalker because I kept pestering you to come and help us. I know. We couldn t do without
your help. I know, but you, through your stalking and everything else and the fact that I had
to watch me back seeing if the PI s were on it, you have given me a purpose that I was
lacking. You ve given me something not just to do but to believe in. That s what you do.
And nobody ever says it to you. We re here because of you. Me. Michelle. We are here
because of what you ve done. We are only building on your foundations. Yeah I know, and, I m
grateful for it all. That I, I know. I can t do it. It, we ve all got to do it together
and that s the thing, the thing everyone s got to remember. All we are doing are building
on the foundations you ve laid, so thank you for doing that. Thank you for being there.
And everyone else, that s the thing. And I m not really getting you back for the marmite.
Not yet. You will. I know you will. No I won t. No I won t. You are forgiven. Although
that was funny. Yeah. t cry. We ve been talking about not crying. No, no I m not. t cry. I
can see your blood s going watery. ve got watery eyes but I won t cry. Because I m a
hard ***. Yes, you are. Yeah. You are a nasty horrible man and I hate you. That
s it, yeah. Fantastic. Shall we? That was great. Just one thing. You said watch your
back for the PI s. What s what s PI. Private investigators. Making sure that he is tracking
me down. Come one, I m going to get you in here somehow. Now you said, oh edit out this
and edit out that. Em, we tend not to because it kind of makes it more natural. Exactly.
Whatever you want. Exactly. I m not being funny. I m not er no I was, I was being funny.
I don t care. Em yes, something goes wrong OK, I know you can edit that out, no no no
no no no no. You do what you want. It s yours. And it it appears to be amusing at the time,
then use it. PAGE PAGE &`#$ NATALIE GEORGE Office 2004 Test Drive User Normal Office
2004 Test Drive User Microsoft Word 11.6.1 (Hg9V
o{g9V o{g9V kZkZV JRF1g9R F1g9 g9NsR g9o{V =NskZV Nsg9Z kZo{ kZNsV g9JR kZNsR JRg9R g9g9Z
g9kZZ kZNsV kZNs o{NsV g9Ns NATALIE GEORGE Title Microsoft Word Document NB6W Word.Document.8