Glasgow: Glaswegians and Murphy’s Law – Part II
The People
My quasi Type A persona continues to thaw, and it may have something to do with Murphy’s Law, which states, “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
Around here, Murphy is considered an optimist. Not following?
Maybe a page from a life-long Glaswegian who was honored last year with the MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) medal – the first stage to knighthood, will clarify.
As we sit in his Strathclyde University office, just off of George Square – the heart of the city, Jim Wilson shares with me his encounter with a short, silver haired, homeless woman one evening on his way to the train station.
“‘Do you have any change to spare, son?’” said Wilson, relaying her words. Wilson answered, “no” and met her stare for what seemed like 10 minutes, he recalls.
With eyes dancing he continues: Then, she started to laugh and then circled around me and exclaimed, ‘No?! Neither do I!’
“You see life in all its fullness,” Wilson says. “It’s got the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that is the strength of Glasgow. Whatever your condition you will be accepted.”
