Francis Gay

Lucy’s and Ian’s family used to have a traditional living room – a couch and two chairs, all facing the TV.

When I visited the other day, I saw the TV had been relegated to the back of the room. The centrepiece is now an ugly (sorry, Lucy and Ian), over-varnished, blocky in its construction, but big dining room table. And it’s busy!

There’s a chess board there, two jigsaws, several books, some wool and a painting that might be of their dog. There’s also a dog blanket beneath the table, which they bought for a few pounds from someone who was going to dump it.

“Our electricity bill has gone down since the TV has mostly been off,” Lucy told me.

“Our anxiety has decreased, the children’s attention spans are growing, and we’re a closer family. All because of a table. Oh, and we have dinner on it as well!”

“It was just a ‘fender-bender’,” Scott, a police officer, told me. “One car hit another as they stopped and started in a queue.

“We had to attend. It should have been a formality, but the people involved escalated things to a ridiculous extent. It took a long time to get peace restored.”

But, all the while, Scott and his colleagues were being watched by someone completely uninterested in the fracas.

“A little boy was there with his grandad. He was wide-eyed at being so close to a police car and a police van.

“Before we left, we stopped to say hello – although he hid his eyes behind his hands. Then, as we left, we put on the flashing blue lights for him.

I heard him squeal and saw him jump. Then he waved.”

“When the grown-ups disillusion you,” Scott told me, “the children will always restore your faith in people!”