The HPWA: "Forget it!"

Thursday, 20 November 2025

"Forget it!"

Whenever I ask somebody what is the most annoying thing another person do they can always give me an answer, and it varies with different individuals. For me it is probably when a stranger says something to me that I can't hear. I am not deaf, but sometimes they speak indistinctly or there is a lot of background noise. I ask them to repeat it and if they do I still sometimes can't hear them and ask again. At that point, or sometimes after a third try, some people will just wave me away impatiently and groan "forget it!", as if it's my fault; as if I'm somehow deficient for not having the ears of a bat and can pick up their slurred mumblings from forty feet away. This happened to me a few days ago. I was walking past a house in Rose Hill, Oxford and a woman stuck her head out of the door and did just those things and then slammed the door in my face. About twenty minutes later I was walking past her house in the opposite direction and sang one of my HP songs in a loud voice:
Porters' Dignity
Porters' Dignity
Porters' Dignity
And Porters' Dignity
Porters' Dignity
Oh, Porters' Dignity
Porters' Dignity
And Porters' Dignity

Porters' Pride
Porters' Pride
Porters' Pride
And Porters' Pride
Porters' Pride
Oh, Porters' Pride
Porters' Pride
And Porters' Pride

I'm sure she heard that! It's the same one I've sung doing other dig stats, for example: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2017/11/fantastic-dignity-statement.html. I consider this possibly my finest civilian dignity statement.

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What is the HPWA

The Hospital Porters’ Welfare Association is a new charity and support community established to provide care and support for the approximately 9000 serving Hospital Porters in the UK and the even greater number of retired and former Hospital Porters. Today thousands of Hospital Porters and ex-Hospital Porters live under the pressure of the trauma sometimes involved in their duties; and also poverty, isolation, indignity and social structural violence leading to suffering, a poor quality of life and increasing mental and physical health problems stemming from their sacrifice to the Hospital Portering Service, the National Health Service and private health practices; and the patients whom they play such a vital part in caring for. Our mission is to build a better present and future for Hospital Porters across Britain and eventually throughout the world by giving financial support, counseling and comradeship. In doing so we hope to also raise the public profile of Hospital Portering and increase awareness of this noble profession.