The Little Girl Who Waved
On a sun-kissed Sunday morning I took to the road. It’s my third scooter run and you know what, I’m kinda liking it.
I’m like the way Jules and Dixie greet me like a friend, even though I’ve only met them once.
I like the way the New Originals Scooter Club roll into the car park and shake my hand.
I like looking at the various scooters. All chrome and fancy paint jobs.
I like the fact I’m up and out of the house on a Sunday morning.
I like the way 70 like-minded souls, dress up, scooter up and hit the road all in the name of Modernism and Charity.
The Mods from the Foresters Scooter Club have organised today’s run. They’re raising money for the Bethnal Green Disaster fund. 173 souls lost their lives back in 1943. The fund will pay for a memorial for those that died. Gone but not forgotten.
So we’re doing our bit. Well the Foresters are. And fair play to them. £414 raised, a few nice speeches, a cheeky half and some decent sounds. What a way to spend a Sunday morning. But it gets better.
En route, the sweetest thing happened. We were five minutes into our journey, driving through Epping Forest and I caught the eye of this family that stopped to watch us ride past. You always get an audience, people stopping and smiling, taking pictures. But this little girl, cute as buttons, started waving. Holding her mum’s hand, smaller sibling in a pram. She wouldn’t stop waving until we’d all passed by. I couldn’t stop smiling. She saw a slice of England youth culture and liked it. Guys and girls who continue to fly the flag. Making a delivery of £414 to a group of pensioners who want to put a plaque on the wall of a tube station.
Some things you can’t explain. Some things just feel right. Some things just warm your soul. The little girl who waved did just that. She made me feel good about getting up and out, and joining the scooter scene.
I’m heading to the Isle of Wight with a spring in step and a smile in heart. Onwards and upwards we go.
Finally…
Paul liked, nay, loved the film Fire In Babylon. West Indies cricket, the glory days relived. A beautiful thing.
Paul liked the fact West Ham got relegated.
