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| 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' |
So, before I moved to Nantwich where my adult life practically began.... I religiously watched MBFGW as I was absolutely fascinated by their culture and style of life. Obviously, the show took footage of the most 'extreme' traveler and Romany Gypsy families to make good TV I presume..... and after it's success, BFGW star Paddy Doherty (also featured on Danny Dyers deadliest men) took part in the reality TV show Big Brother. The national fell in love with traveler Paddy and got to see what a down-to-earth human being he is, despite his bare-knuckle past. We were given a insight to the stars way of life from his point of view rather than the one you see on MBFGW and at no surprise, he won!
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| 'Hard Knocks and Soft Spots' |
After his success he wrote his book 'Hard Knocks and Soft Spots' which my mother bought for me. This gave me an even better insight into his life and even bought me to tears on numerous occasions, especially how he suffered so much due to the loss of his son and other children. It made me think about about how travelers and Romany Gypsies fit into our society and the truth is, they don't. Personally, I think they have a right to be apart of our society but it is our own society that rejects them unfairly and when it comes down to it, they are real people just like ourselves.
After moving to Nantwich, the first traveler I met was a young lad called Sam, who used to come round for a tea quite a lot. Polite and friendly, Sam became a really good friend and allowed me to understand that they are people, just like us. The second traveler I met was a man called Manchild. We met on a night out in Nantwich at the Union bar in town and invited him round to my house for a party, ever since then myself and my friends found Manchild to be a fantastic person, with a good sense of humour and presence.
So for anybody that will sit their and judge these people, I have a message for you... Never judge a book by it's cover and judging somebody else, doesn't define them, it defines who you are.
