There was one bit of Bolton thuggery I quite enjoyed. As I walked under the railway bridge, 1 68 yr old codger, in the safety of a protective group of 3 other similar aged friends suddenly randomly said to me '******'. All I was doing was walking on the pavement. I didn't have my docs on, my head shaved to a No1, my braces off my shoulders or my knuckle duster in my pocket. Usually I do, but for fear of Bolton's worst I didn't. Following this 1 word erudite comment I simply said, in my best white middle class, boarding school accent, 'pardon'. To which he replied, after thinking his response with care: '******'. 'Ah thank you, that was astute, I assume you were up all night thinking that through'. Slightly stumped he continued the conversation by saying 'Wigan; shit'.
And that was our conversation over. He turned and walked away with a look of smugness and delight that he'd got his message across.
After that it seemed to go downhill; I'm guessing he was the catalyst.
Clearly I was lucky!