Women in chains....

'Woman in chains' was a fab song by Tears for Fears (I must dig it out....hang on.....
Yup, playing it now....".....the sun and the moon...." - great stuff!)

Anyway, I was walking home tonight & we were calling for a cup of tea (!!) when we noticed half the pavement had been dug up - with a 'moat' now running along by the eateries, taking up the space she the tables usually go. There were planks laid across the holes....imagine that in the UK? Bridges made of old planks!!
The workmen were trying to pull up the old drain pipes - all very messy & not a bit smelly - but best of all, there were two women - probably late 40's - who were getting well stuck in, with big gloves on and pretty much out-working the blokes. Hell, they even jumped in the moat & puffed & panted to rip out the pipes & lift them onto the cart to drag them away! They really did put the guys to shame!

At one point, they seemed to unearth what looked like an old engine - after some jabbering that I think translated to "come on you lazy bastards, get this Ford V6 out before we go home for the night!" they rounded up the blokes (watching, fags in hand) and bossed them around good & proper!

Watching & eating / drinking we gave them a round of applause. One of the women was wearing a pearl necklace (!) and looked like she'd just come from the school run!!

I really do admire (some) of the work ethic here...certainly it seems the poorer they seem to be, the harder they work.

They deserved our respect as much as the applause....