It’s ironic that when you go all out to do a questionnaire, you end up knowing more than you should. As for my case, I with very much pride did my first interview with the Crookesmoor Building’s porter on the issue of the division of assets on divorce. A family law questionnaire, it is.
Conducting the interview with the intention of completing it within 15 minutes at the most, I ended up having a very knowledgeable conversation with a mid 40s man. He spoke to me about all sorts of things. From his ex-wife all the way to his great great great great … his ancestors of 200 years ago George Ingram. In his opinion, although he didn’t think his ex-wife deserved the matrimonial home, he feels that it was fair that she gets it in order for them to reach a clear settlement. He doesn’t have any children but if he still have any property left after his death, they will be the beneficiaries of his will.
Porter: Money is always a cause to all worries. If you didn’t have any money, you will not have any worries.
Then, he went on to tell me about his life as a child. How difficult it was for him and for the people living in that era, especially when his father was on strike for 12 weeks. His mom told him specifically that he wasn’t going to eat much for Christmas that year because they didn’t have enough to go round. And because of that, he will never forget that it was his grandmother who put clothes on his back.
His grandmother was a lady of pride. When her son (the porter’s dad) worn out a pair of shoes, until it has got a big hole in the sole, his father’s Aunt May, went to buy him a new pair of shoes. Much to his appreciation, he went home and told his mom of his new shoes – his precious. Unfortunately his mom went:-
Mom: Where did you get those shoes from!?!? I forbid you ever going to my relatives to beg for anything.
So, poor porter’s father had to walk all the way to his Aunt May’s house and return her the shoes.
Moving on, I found out that both the porter’s grandfather have only 1 eye each. hehehehee…
One was due to workplace injury and another was because he cheated in some poker game and was caught.
There were lots more that he told me…but I guess I’ll end here with a selection of the morals of the story…
1. Never interview anyone older than the age of 20
2. If you have any money, give them to me. Money is a cause to all worries, remember?
3. Don’t tell your mom of your new purchases
4. If you cheat, don’t get caught.