Five generations of my family have walked to work down the Wadestown hill.

          As the sun rises the view of the harbour is magnificent.

          The walk was a great place to meet interesting people.

          One day I met Sid Granger only to find out we had both served on the same ships, HMNZS Achilles and the Bellona at the same time, yet we had never met before. We became good friends and even attended some water colour painting classes together.

          I met a dentist, and several accountants as I walked into the city.

          One of the favourite stories I heard was from a Maori gentleman. He had fought in the battle of Crete and got left behind. He sheltered in a cave until some of the locals found and fed him. They took him home and sheltered him from the Germans. He spent the rest of the war helping them on their farm. Because of his skin colour the Germans mistook him for a Cretan.

          Very often when walking in to my office I would meet an old man with a dog. I usually met him on the Wade Street zigzag.

          He was dressed in an old fashion shirt without a collar. I suspected had seen better days. I usually stopped and said a few kind words to him. I remember one day I said to him. “I must get a dog when I retire it will give me an incentive to go walking.”

          Some time later I attended a Christmas function in Wellington hosted by Dan Watkins, the General Manager of the firm Ivan Watkins Dow. Dan was an old friend from my Taranaki days.

          During the proceedings Dan came over to me and said “Geoff , there is a gentleman over here who has asked to be introduced to you.” and to my horror it was the old man that walked the dog. But this time he was smartly dressed in a smart business suit. Dan said, “Geoff. I would like you to meet our bank manager .”

          “I just want to tell you I haven’t retired,” the man said. “I get up early to take the dog for a walk and I don’t start work until 9 o’clock.”

          We both had a laugh. But I was most embarrassed. Which reminded me of the old saying  “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

“Blunt people make the most pointed remarks.”