british empire

1781, England, Manchester - Your Mother Works in an Arms Factory, 1 Shilling a Week, You Live Like This Until Your Mother Dies She Leaves You a Fucking 40 Shillings And You A Month Later You Walk Around in Clothes (Thank Heaven They're Not in Ragged Pieces) You Have 39 Shillings in Your Pocket, 10 You Spent on the Cheapest Clothes You Live in the Same House - a Small Room on the Outskirts of Manchester A Month Later You've Run Out of Money, No One's Hiring You, You Beg. And You're Shocked You Find - A Sovereign, Gold, Shiny, Real. You put it in your inside pocket as a souvenir and a stash, today was a good catch - 20 coppers and 2 shillings And you see them at the pub - guardsmen, well-fed, drunk They look like kings and you look like fucking servants A recruiting sergeant comes up to you - the man responsible for recruiting new recruits He sees you and is not going to let you go, They will give him 2 shillings for you He looks like a peacock - a high shako with feathers, silver buttons, epaulettes He comes up to you, puts his hand on your shoulder, it is heavy but "friendly" and begins to talk

Sergeant : Hey, man! You look tough, a real British lion! Not like those city scumbags…

You - Uh-uh...

The Sergeant Continues Without Even Hearing Your Answer

Sergeant : Shall we go have a drink? At the King's expense!