Sunday 8 March 2015

35. A tale of two towns…

I discovered very quickly, that once you spend a modest amount of time away from Harrogate, you realise what a paradox it really is. A beautiful town where you dream of setting up home and raising a family, where the people are hostile, ignorant, arrogant, money-centric, and largely superficial. Of course there are people who don’t share these traits, but not enough to create balance.

I don’t want to leave the impression that Harrogate didn’t offer me a lot. It is truly a beautiful place to live, and many of the friendships I made whilst living there will last well beyond my retirement, but sadly, the negatives began to outweigh the positives.

When I started socialising in Leeds, I found a large circle of people who were interested in meeting new people with different interests, where people weren’t bothered about your past, your wallet, or the scars on your head. Finally a place where you weren’t made to feel weird for smiling at a stranger, or daring to make small talk with a neighbour. The things that made me feel isolated in Harrogate, became the reasons for meeting people in Leeds. I had found a new home.

My concerns about the effect of psychological scars from my ordeal on new relationships, the fears of others about my suitability as a potential long-term prospect vaporised quickly, as I felt the general acceptance of the people I met.

I had been in Harrogate too long. I soon discovered that orange was not in the normal range of skin tones, and that there were t-shirts available where the ‘v’ did not necessarily reveal chest hair and moobs. I realised that I had left a town that relied on a veneer of perfection and appearance, and found a place where substance was key, and unconventional was conventional.

This was fine by me.

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