I went out on Thursday night to a local 'hotspot' with an old friend of mine. The object of the occasion was to catch up and drink beer.

Now, some really old guy was chatting these ladies up, and one of them came over and asked us to politely remove this guy. We simply asked him to move and he did.

Those two ladies, who were very pleasant, turned out to be an alcoholic, and a smack addict.

But I have to say I have never met two (uneducated) people who have such an honest, and philosophical perspective of life. I found it incredibly refreshing.

I did my duty as a man, and an Englishman: I walked one of them home, and ordered a taxi to ensure the other one got home safely.

But I am left with a profound sense that my middle-class, and effectively (proportionaly) rich as I am, I know nothing of how people really live. The level of 'middle-classness' in this country is pretty high, but we know, but never acceot, that the vast majority of people live in poverty (below median income)

Their fears, their anxieties, and their worries all struck a chord for me. I can't believe that after all these years I'd forgotten about the realities of life. I mean this is where I come from . . . .

I feel ashamed. All my postering, all my arrogance, aggressive conceit, seems wasted. It's a luxury to be able to say these things. It's a luxury to call upon a well educated vocabulary. It's a luxury to dismiss Kant et all. It;s a luxury to go to work and earn over £30/hour.

I learnt humilty that night, I learnt that there's not one person who is worthless (Come on -we all believe it, but how many times do you walk past the weak and the helpless?)

I feel totally ashamed of who I've become.