Neil was a typical bubbly, happy 7 year-old boy , who didn’t seem like he had a care in the world. Neil was very imaginative and creative at 7. when asked what he thought he thought about black people he answered, “Sounds like a purple person with red eyes and yellow feet, so I can’t really get a good idea of what they would look like.
At 14 Neil was attending the same school as Peter was. He seemed a little more quiet and thoughtful. He also seemed a bit ‘stuck up’ or prideful with were he was in life.
At 21 Neil was living in a squat in London and was getting work from random building sites. He hadn’t made it into Oxford and he seemed bitter about it he was blaming his parents for it. Because Neil didn’t make it into Oxford he attended a different University for 1 term then dropped out.
By 28 Neil was homeless and occasionally living in a trailer in the west of Scotland and was relying completely on social security for an income. He seemed very depressed and if I didn’t know better I would think that he had a mental problem.
At 35 Neil was still jobless but had moved up north to the Shetlands of Scotland. He was occasionally acting in productions and one day hoped to direct one. Neil had also finally decided that he believed in god, he had become a Christian.
At 42 Neil had a job In London as a liberal democrat, and was elected by the public.
He had lived with another 7 up charter for 2 months, Bruce. They had become really good friends.
And at 49 he had left London and moved to a small town in the western suburbs of England. And had a job in the local council, but hoped to get out of politics. He was running a local study group/church in his neighborhood.
Neil intrigued me from the very beginning. He was so bright and bubbly he reminded me of myself when I was 7. But then he turned into this quiet, thoughtful teenager, like I am mostly at times, and then turned into a depressed being that wax homeless and realized on social security for a living. Although Neil was really depressed for most of his life he still seemed to find love in a way, though God. Neil always had a Christian aspect through out his life and I think this is one of the reasons why he shared a home with Bruce for a while. In Bruce’s and Neil’s interview they both described what they thought was weird when the were living together like Bruce always measuring the water in the bath and Neil once turned of the fridge because he thought it was too noisy. You can tell from how they both live that they don’t get out much or have much experience with women. In 49 up Neil was asked if he had a women would it change anything, he responded by saying that I probably would to have the company would be a nice change. Neil is a very interesting character and in some ways I can relate to him. I am looking forward to see were he will be at in the next 2 years.
