School holidays

As someone who does not have children, the summer holidays normally have the benefit of less traffic on the roads and never having to have someone sat next to me on the train.

The downside is that the little darlings are let loose on the streets. Today in Waterstones in Birmingham a group of youngsters who had missed out on evolution were trying their best to wreck the small lift that wheelchair users can use to reach the mezzanine level. Then there were the parents who already looked at their wits end with their offspring as they screech at them. All of this happens on the first day proper of the holidays!

But then my faith in this country's future was restored in my local town. There are a plethora of charity shops, and I was doing a trawl in search of books. In each one there was a young female helping out. None of them looked like the surly teenagers I had seen in Birmingham, and all were very polite and eager to help. It left me with a nice feeling that our young people are prepared to offer their time for others. Perhaps Mr Cameron's Big Society will work out after all!