Friendship

MY OLDEST FRIEND has the same name as me: Rachel. But I call her Kitty, a variation on her surname. We have been close for more than 40 years. She and I will, I believe, know each other now until one of us finds ourself at the other's funeral, where she will, perhaps, be required to tell funny stories to a crowd of unfamiliar people. Kitty, if you're reading this, please don't bring up that school trip to Normandy during which I famously disgraced myself.
We were 14 when we met at our Sheffield comprehensive; I wonder now how we found each other, because the school was unimaginably vast. But then I remember that it was the 1980s. Our teachers were often on strike: lessons began with a long wait for substitute staff to turn up, and in those minutes the gossip, like the bad behaviour, was frantic, everyone squeezing in as much as they could before the door opened and some slightly desperate figure tried to bring us to attention. Stuck in the same stream for maths, we spoke in those snatched moments about makeup and music - and, of course, about boys: about who we liked, and who we thought liked us.
And somehow, we never ran out of things to say: when the day was done we would go home and promptly ring each other. Telephones were in the hall in those days. There was no privacy. Your brother would make annoying noises to distract you. Your mum would walk past, clicking her tongue in irritation, a finger tapping her wristwatch. But we were not to be put off. The daily unpicking was as vital as air. We could wring drama from anything, though very often no squeezing was required. A certain Miss X appeared to be dating a physics teacher and the hairy bloke who taught geography. A boy in history kept falling asleep, the result of his addiction to glue. There were the sex lives of those girls who were so much more daring and sought after than us. Their daily soap operas, loudly and melodramatically performed.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 16, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 16, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 9.500 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden

'Gone crazy' Escalation in drone strikes as Trump berates Putin
Moscow launched three consecutive nights of massive drone strikes against Ukraine, as Donald Trump broke his silence to suggest the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, had “gone crazy”.

It's not immigrants who don't 'integrate' with the rest of us-it's the elite
Amid all the acrimony surrounding Keir Starmer's recent remarks on immigration - a row that could follow him into retirement and beyond - there has been one little-examined area of agreement between the prime minister and his critics. “When people come to our country,” Starmer said, “they should also commit to integration.”

Fish meal The hidden impact of farmed sea bass
An investigation reveals how UK consumers buying fish are playing a role in food insecurity and unemployment
A deadly mission
Dom Phillips was working on a book about saving the Amazon when he was killed. In this extract. he reflects on his encounters with the rainforest and its people

Ode to soy The perfect sauce? An expert spills the beans
In the lush foothills of Damyang county, rows of earthenware jars stood under the Korean sky. Inside each vessel, a transformation was taking place. This is the domain of Ki Soon-do, South Korea's sole grand master of traditional aged soy sauce, where patience isn't just a virtue but an essential ingredient.

Soul survivor
With a new album and a boost from Black Mirror, Irma Thomas, the 84-year-old 'Soul Queen of New Orleans', is hitting new heights

'Gone crazy' Escalation in drone strikes as Trump berates Putin
Moscow launched three consecutive nights of massive drone strikes against Ukraine, as Donald Trump broke his silence to suggest the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, had \"gone crazy\".

Long wait for truth about yacht tragedy
Sicilian fishing village watches the salvage of tycoon’s sailboat for answers on the causes of its sinking

Movies and shakers
Cinema-going has yet to recover from the pandemic drop but key Hollywood figures are working hard to ensure the theatrical experience does not die

Trump card Ramaphosa earns praise for keeping his cool
Many South Africans have praised their president, Cyril Ramaphosa, for staying calm when Donald Trump ambushed him in the Oval Office with a video purporting to back up his false claims of a “genocide” against white Afrikaner farmers.