Calling all women: abuse on the streets just isn't on!

I'm writing to tell you about an incident which happened last week. I was working from home and needed to pick up some of Seb's new uniform from his new school, plus I wanted to pick up a parcel and pop into the supermarket and buy a few things for dinner, hence why I decided to beat the lunchtime 'rush' and leave at 11am. Anyway, I rounded the corner from my road into the main thoroughfare and there was a man walking by the bus stop; now I'm not normally a nervous or jumpy pedestrian but something about this bloke made me feel uneasy. I walked by, trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible, but once he'd passed me he said loudly 'make sure you don't take your eye out with one of those!' gesturing towards my breasts, I shouted 'what did you mean?' and swore at him, but he turned into my road and carried on regardless. What this man forgot was that he was wearing a reflective tabard with his company name printed on the back; I made a mental note of this.

I continued my journey feeling angry and upset - why had this happened? Yes, I have a large chest and men often stare, whatever I'm wearing. Quite frankly though, this doesn't give people the divine right to comment, nobody in this day and age should be doing this. Women get a raw deal, I noted the recent 'slut walk' which took place in the centre of London which was women basically saying 'I can wear what I like and stuff you.'

When I returned home I googled it, as you can imagine it's a fairly common occurrence and there are websites devoted to it: http://www.stopstreetharassment.com/ plus campaigns to raise awareness.

As for me, well I contacted the culprit's company, who were quick to respond and I must admit, were impressive with the way they dealt with it. I answered all of the detailed questions and if the person isn't caught, at least the company will highlight the need for their staff to behave in an appropriate manner. Whatever happens, I'll keep on fighting and I'll let you know how the situation develops.

A day out with Nick

For readers who are remotely interested my relationship with Nick is going from strength to strength. Today he took the day off work and accompanied me to the Film Museum which is situated in London's County Hall. It was a good day out, especially as we had a 2for1 ticket, which saved us the princely sum of £13.50 - gawd, I'm starting to sound like Margaret now aren't I? The history of film is always interesting and Nick's offered to bring around his Charlie Chaplin collection for me to enjoy.

We wandered around the South Bank hand in hand, which wasn't easy to do as there were an awful lot of tourists milling about. In my fevered youth I used to think that relationships were puncuated by iron beds, sex, nice coffee and book fayres - sadly I was mis-informed but it's sometimes nice to dream. We had lunch in gourmet pizza, a place I'd previously visited with an ex-boyfriend who bored me to death about telephones, but it wasn't the case today, Nick was on wonderfully witty form.

I don't think I've ever described Nick in detail - i.e. what he does, what he looks like, where does he live etc? Well he's about six foot tall, he sports a full head of thick, dark hair, has faded blue eyes and a cheeky grin. Clothes wise he likes to wear patterned/flowery shirts, Levi's 501s, suede desert boots and cord jackets. At work he wears a suit but I can tell that he's not a natural fan of formal outfits.

He's a civil servant, a Grade 7 to be precise, a position he reached after spending a few years in Department's ADP fast-track scheme. He's laid back, intelligent with a wicked sense of humour. He's currently living in a Victorian conversion flat situated in London's Wood Green, a surburb he could afford after splitting from his wife back in 2005.

Right, that's about it for now, I'd better stop typing and fix myself something to eat.

Seb's school settling in scenario

Well, that's a load of alliteration for you! Seb's due to attend a 'settling in' session at his new school this afternoon; it's drop off at 2:15 and pick up by 3:10 (I wonder whether I've enough time to nip to the shops during the 55 minute child hiatus?) I went to a school meeting last week and one of the rules is that no child should sport a temporary tattoo, so guess what I've gone and done? I must say the rose design looks rather natty on my right wrist! At least it'll make me blend in with the other parents a bit more (meow!)

It was strange leaving Polly in the house last week, not that anything untoward happened but I'm not sure if I'm happy with the lodger arrangement, especially since Roger's bequest. She's a very intense girl - I can't put my finger upon it, but there's something really odd about her, she hasn't any friends of her own except the lugubrious Roger Reynolds and she's totally self-obsessed. I'll keep you informed of all happenings on this score.