Magazine


Paul R Taylor: Man about town

by Paul R Taylor
16/ 6/2005

WHEN I was a teenager Manchester was the coolest city in the world and I'd have given anything to live here.

Scores of us would catch the train from Chester on a Saturday morning so we could hang about Affleck's Palace and look moody. That was before Oasis, when everybody loved The Doors and John Squires was God.

In the 15 or so years that have passed the city has become a bit more corporate and I'm afraid I have as well. Gone is the leather jacket and long hair, replaced by a regulation suit and tie. Nowadays I walk past the legions of mini-Marilyn Mansons outside Urbis on a Saturday and know they see me as an old man. I am nearly 30 after all.

I still understand them, why they dress and act like they do, but only just. They don't understand me. They don't realise that one day they'll have to swap the moshing for a mortgage, roll up their sleeves and become IT consultants.

Maybe I'm feeling bitter because I've just signed up for my first mortgage. Sold my soul to HSBC. We must have looked at about 20 flats in the city centre before my girlfriend and I found one in our price range that meant we didn't need to throw away everything we own and become contortionists.

In the two months of looking, I learned two things.

The first was that estate agents don't come from loving homes; they are hand-reared in a bastard factory. As first-time buyers we got all excited and put in an offer on one of the first flats that was vaguely suitable. We offered two-grand under the asking price, two measly grand, but the estate agent informed us that the lady wasn't interested and then he wouldn't arrange a second viewing. We cooled and then she asked for our number and called a few weeks later asking us why we hadn't been back. I can imagine the estate agent telling her, "hold out, they don't know what they're doing". The flat is still on the market.

The second thing I learnt is that, like my mum and dad, it's my girlfriend who wears the trousers in our relationship. She's just more persuasive than me. My single condition was a parking space, underground if possible, but any space would do. Her single condition was a balcony. At least I now get a good view of the city I have always wanted to live in.

It's employment that has drawn me to Manchester this time around, rather than the music scene, but, leather jacket or not, I'm still mad for it.


Have your say
 
Have your say Got an opinion you want to share?
Register now and have your comments heard.

Register now


 
Personal Finance
 

Balance Transfer
Card BT Fee
Virgin Credit Card 2.98%
MBNA Platinum 2.9%
Customers with a 'good' credit profile
Company Typical APR
Platinum Exclusive Loan 7.8%
AA 7.9%
Sainsbury's Personal Loan 8.2%
Alliance & Leicester 8.7%
Lloyds TSB 8.9%
Abbey Personal Loan 8.9%
HASH(0x2b73dff10d90)
Provider AER*
ICICI BANK
HiSAVE Savings Account 		4.50%
FIRST DIRECT
Everyday e-Saver 		1.75%
SAINSBURYS FINANCE
Internet Saver 		2.25%
Fees may apply