"True, funny stories from a South London photocopier engineer who spent a few years fixing machines across London."

This is the true story that ended up causing far more drama than anyone could ever have imagined. The thought of losing my tools of the trade was unthinkable……

Yet, on one ordinary working day, somewhere between a customer visit and a quick stop at a coffee shop, my tool case vanished without a trace.

At first, I assumed I had simply misplaced it. A quick phone call or a retracing of my steps would surely solve the problem, but as the hours passed, the mystery only deepened. What began as a minor inconvenience, soon escalated into a chain of events involving frantic searches, confused staff, police cordons, and a conclusion, so unexpected that nobody could have predicted it.

Refusing to be ripped off, Martin launches an impromptu protest inside the shop, loudly warning customers about its treatment of him. His one-man campaign drives potential buyers away, prompts the manager to call the police, and turns a £15 dispute into an expensive public relations disaster. When the police explain that Martin is within his rights to continue protesting outside the shop, does the manager finally give in and refunds the full amount?

It's a humorous tale of standing up for yourself, proving that sometimes the principle is worth far more than the money.

My first council flat in Camberwell, south London, wasn't exactly what you'd call a dream home. It was a two-bedroom flat in a crumbling tower block that looked as though it had been built in a hurry and neglected ever since. If the council had been honest, they'd have called the place "Asbestos Towers." 

It didn't take long to discover we weren't the only residents here. Every evening, just as the lights went down, the cockroaches made their appearance. They weren't the occasional stray insect you'd squash with a slipper. These were an organised gang. They marched confidently across the kitchen worktops, on single file, very regimented & disappeared into the cupboards and cracks within seconds and scattered only when you switched the light on. It was as if they were paying the rent and we were the unwanted lodgers.