Hell, Hull and Halifax....

I attended a Mother's day function at my youngest son Amirul school recently,while i enjoyed some of the mothers swaying and swinging on stage i got acquainted to a seemingly retired man who was also there to witness his young son performing.

The conversation roughly goes like this:

Me: hai sir, enjoy the show? 

Sir: yup, great ain't it? 

Me: Where are you from and hope you love Kuching...

Sir: ya, kuching is a wonderful place , I'm from Reading you known few miles from London.

Me: Hmmm.. are you originally from there?  ( You see i can recognise his accent and i know for sure he's a Northerner, let me find out more!!!)

Sir(rather sheepishly): Well i am originally from Yorkshire, rather from Hull you know. 

Somehow being a Northerner and a Yorkshire man to boot is not apparently not something one likes to shout about,that's for sure.

Ha ha ... wait till he hears i have to say next;

Me: i used to live in Yorkshire before, doing my A levels

Sir(suddenly lightening up): Really? never expect that, where exactly?

Me: Halifax sir, u know in the Pen nines, near Bradford and Leeds(even to a Yorkshire man i must take care to explain where exactly Halifax is ,to reflect its measure of remoteness)

Sir(with a loud guffaw): Ha ha nobody is from Halifax, what on earth are you doing there? 

                                            You heard of this saying?....Hell,Hull and Halifax ? Halifax is the last stop of eternal punishment with Hell being the first!!!

As Kevin Keegan (a Yorkshire man from Scunthorpe) said on telly during an uncontrolled tirade against Ferguson  " I love it, i really love it if we beat them"!!!

He he..Halifax may be a last stop on an arduous road of punishment and sufferings but hey I LOVE IT man ,I really love the place.

I spent great two years of my teenage life there. The people are friendly and the words 'cheerio" and "u all right love" are a day to day expressions that even now i found myself unwittingly uttering them without realising that nobody does that here at all!!!

Come on the Yorkshire man may not have the sophisticated airs of a Londoner or those from the South but they have gumption man yes Gumption ,beat that.

Hell, Hull and Halifax .. i have not been to Hull and as always one hopes that  particular first destination will not be an eternal place for any person with conscience to rest(or be punished) forever but Halifax? Give me anytime the place as a last stop not on a road of eternal punishment  but a road of redemption and peaceful solace.