Yorkshire Writers' Lunch

Changing flights at JFK airport in New York from London on route to Kingston Jamaica is not my favourite thing to do, but Delta and Virgin airlines have a relationship and had a super deal with Premium seats, so the inconvenience of an eight-hour layover 6 th to 7 th of June 2019, seemed worth it. I had it all figured out in my head that I would spend the night asleep in the lounge, but when I got there I was invited to look around and thought that for $70 there wasn’t that much on offer. The buffet looked tired, and people were lounging around on comfy chairs fair enough, but that was not what I was expecting to see. I had fantasised about little cubicles where I could really lay out and snore.   It was now close to midnight  and my departure was at 7am. I realised that my phone had lost power and I didn’t have a charger on me with the correct electrical plug as that was all snug in my suitcase. Eventually, I found the parade of airport shops which were all closed apart fro...

I was on holiday walking through the countryside in Spain when my mobile phone broke. The screen went blank and that was it – dead. Back home, I tried a few tips from the internet, most of which involved violence towards the phone. The tips didn’t work, so I went to a mobile phone shop, attracted by a special offer which was too good to ignore. The bright and modern shop was busy. Staff in casual uniforms were attending customers browsing the latest amazing gadgets. But the happy consumer paradise was being spoiled by a man who was ranting and raving into a phone. He seemed to be trying to explain a problem to a customer service or computer expert on the other end of the connection. He spoke loudly but slowly, as if speaking to an idiot who only understood simple words. He kept repeating himself. The man’s frustration was embarrassing; I saw the shop staff and customers exchange glances which said, 'What a rude man to speak like that.' People gave him a wide birth as if he...