Tuesday, 16th. March 1976

After a few months in my first year at university it dawned on me that I was something of an outlier. I had no real direct experience of the ‘middle class’ for one thing, although I did not differentiate between people in this way. One of the key observations I made was how relatively well-off – and consequently relaxed – most of my fellow students were. I was totally dependent upon the student grant from my local authority – in my case Devon County Council.

Many of my friends had parents who were able to provide additional funds over and above the student grant, and I got the feeling that sometimes they could not understand why I was so ‘poor’. I just got on with it and did my best to live within my means, which meant finding work whenever I could.

It was Easter break at university and that meant only one thing: I had to find work. I had been asking around for a week or so and eventually settled on the Alfred Marks Temp bureau at Centre Point as being a good bet. They could not promise anything but, if I got to their office early something might come up.