An American Wanderer In Manchester

Todd Barton needed a drink and a bit of peace and quiet. It had been an exhausting few days. He had flown in to Manchester, England from his native Kansas City, Missouri. He was in the UK for a week, to oversee the opening of his firm’s new warehouse. It had been a busy few days. There had been the issues with the new barcode scanning system as well as the inevitable meetings and schmoozing that inevitably came with these trips. His UK colleagues had hosted him each evening, taking him out. In fancy restaurants, as they dined on bland, overpriced food, the talk had still been of warehouses and distribution. By the end of the third day, he was fed up with making corporate small-talk over dinner.

Telling his British hosts, he was tired and would head back to the hotel for the evening, he hopped on the tram into the city-centre wanting to explore his surroundings on his own. He wandered down the bustling city streets. As well as the gleaming glass skyscrapers, there was also older gothic buildings, all red brick and gargoyles, that looked like they’d been there centuries. The place had a magic that was modern and slick and yet seemed as old as the Romans that had once occupied the city. 

A few pints of beer later, Todd headed to the bar for another drink. As he thanked the barman and handed him a ten-pound note, the woman next to him, turned to face him.

‘Are you American?’ She asked.

‘Yes, I am. I’m from Kansas City.’ Todd said.

Todd had expected one of the usual responses. In his short time in the UK, people had either been in awe, wanting to talk about baseball and burgers, or they had started a debate on American politics, as though he was an ambassador. 

‘What brings you to our fine city?’ She asked. 

‘Yes, I’m here with work. I’m taking care of the opening of the new warehouse in Trafford Park. They sent me across to trouble-shoot. I’m here for the rest of the week.’ Todd said. 

‘Have you been to Curry Mile yet?’ Donna asked.

‘I don’t know what that is.’

‘Do you like curry? Indian food?’

‘We have Indian restaurants back home.’ Todd said.

Donna shook her head.

‘Trust me, you have nothing like this back in Kansas.’

 Todd laughed at the outrageousness of the boast, but he couldn’t help feeling, they had nothing like Donna back in Kansas either. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, that was stubborn and yet playful. Suddenly, his visit to England seemed a lot more interesting than warehouses and forklift trucks. 

‘I’ll have to check out The Curry Mile. Will the taxi driver will know where that is?’ Todd asked.

Donna took a sip of her drink, thinking for a moment, then spoke.

‘I can take you, if you like? I’m meeting my friends tonight, but we could go tomorrow night. How does that sound?’ She said.

‘That sounds great, actually. If you’re sure you don’t mind.’

‘Just doing my bit for Anglo-American relations.’ Donna said.

Before she left to join her friends, they swapped mobile phone numbers, agreeing to message to arrange the details of the following evening. 

The experience of the Curry Mile, or Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, Manchester, was as impressive as Donna had described. The street was lined with Indian restaurants on both sides of the road, their bright lights glowed in the dark like the Strip in Las Vegas, the aromas of the spices filling the air. It was exotic and seductive. Donna had been so right. As they walked, Donna linked his arm.

‘It’s like another world.’ He said.

‘Good, innit? And you’ve not tasted the food yet.’ Donna said. 

The food lived up to the surroundings, but Todd was more taken with his companion than the wonderful cuisine. They just seemed to hit it off. There was a good-natured humour to her and she seemed interested in him and his life back home. 

At the end of the evening, Todd hugged her and asked if he could see her again before he went home at the end of the week. Donna grinned and said she’d have to check her busy schedule.

‘Of course, if you’re not too busy.’ Todd added.

‘Tomorrow night?’ Donna said.

‘Deal.’

When Todd left to head back to Missouri, they vowed to keep in touch, to stay in contact. Todd knew this would go one of two ways. Either, after a few messages, things would fizzle out, the way these things sometimes did, or it would be the start of something special. He tried not to get his hopes up, but he was keeping everything crossed that it was the latter. 

The text messages, emails, photographs, continued almost daily. Back in Kansas, he would be given glimpses of Donna’s life in Manchester. He was given an insight into her world. Despite the distance, Todd and Donna grew closer as the weeks turned into months. They video called on Christmas Day to wish each other Merry Christmas. Donna showed off her Christmas jumper with pride, and the red Reindeer nose that lit up. 

Todd always found that January was a time of reflection and taking stock. In the first days of January, an idea came to him. Over the days that followed the idea took shape and grew in his mind. He was developing strong feelings for Donna and wanted to be with her. He had to know if it would work between them. As far as work, that would be really straightforward. His company had depots and warehouses all over the world. People had moved in the past. Last year a woman at his depot had transferred to Dublin, wanting to get back to her late parents’ Irish roots. It wouldn’t be a massive task for his company to transfer him to their branch in Trafford Park, Manchester. And there was always vacancies as the company expanded. If things didn’t work out as he’d hoped, he could always transfer back home. Another coworker had spent eighteen months working in Austria recently and had come back full of stories about his trip. 

And so, at the end of April, Todd landed in Manchester once again. This time he would be staying indefinitely and to see how things went with Donna. When Todd had mentioned to Donna that he was thinking of moving to be with her, she had squealed down the phone. They had both ended the call in tears of happiness and excitement. 

When he saw her at waiting for him at Arrivals at the airport, he knew he was doing the right thing. While he was uprooting and leaving Kansas, his folks, family and friends, when he saw her, he felt like he had come home. It sounded like a line from a cheesy country song, but being with her did feel like home. He would be staying with her in her apartment in the neighbouring city of Salford. With his wages from the warehouse, they would sort the household bills between them.

At work in Manchester, Todd was welcomed like an old friend. They were delighted to have him back over, this time on a more permanent basis. And so, Todd went from calling and texting Donna, to being with her and calling and texting the folks back home. The world had changed in the last decade or so. The world didn’t seem as big a place. Thanks to the internet and communication technology, you could be in constant contact with people on the other side of the world. 

Todd and Donna settled into a nice routine. Todd loved the traditional English pub, with their selection of real ales and roast dinners. There didn’t seem to be anything quite like that at home. It was like living in a Harry Potter novel or something. As the weeks turned into months, they grew closer than ever, spending almost all their free-time in each other’s company. Todd grew close to Donna’s family and friends. Maybe they knew that he was miles away from home and so welcomed him all the more. He thought of Donna’s friends as his friends, and they were always socialising with their close circle. 

Apart from Donna and her friends, Manchester, and the UK did have a lot going for it. Even the way they spoke had such a charm. They would use the word ‘fancy’ in different way to the folks back home. To Todd the word fancy meant posh, or swanky, but to the guys in the UK, fancy could also mean other things. There was to fancy somebody, if you had a crush on someone. And if you had a craving for something, you’d say, I just fancy a curry. Anyone fancy a brew? That was the way of asking who wanted a tea or coffee. These guys called an umbrella a brolly. That was just adorable. When Donna asked if she’d need her brolly, as it looked like it might rain, he had melted on the spot.

In Kansas they had baking hot weather in the summer, and it plummeted to below freezing in winter. In Manchester, and most of the North West, it just seemed to rain all year round. He recalled a saying about Manchester. There were two types of weather here, raining, and just about to start raining. As far as Todd could tell, that pretty much summed it up. 

One Sunday evening, Todd was on a video call with his mom back home. 

‘Hey mom, how’s things there? How about the Chiefs? Great win the other night.’

‘Todd, I don’t follow the football. You’re Uncle Dave was delighted with the result on Sunday.’

‘Tell him I said Go Chiefs.’ Todd said. 

‘Will do. What are your plans for Thanksgiving on Thursday?’ His mother asked.

‘Geez, that’s this week? Where is this year going?’ 

‘Yeah, it’s this Thursday. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? Will you get everything sorted in time?’ She said.

‘It’s not really a thing over here. For these guys, Thanksgiving is the stuff of movies. They have their own traditions; it was Bonfire Night a few weeks ago. There was fireworks all night and these big Bonfires. We went down to the local park. It was really good fun. Fireworks going off like it was the 4th July.’ 

‘And how’s work going?’ His mother asked.

‘Yeah, it’s going well. My coworkers are a good bunch. They make fun of my accent. I’m practising my Manc accent. It’s all Manchestoh.’ He laughed.

At the end of the call, his mother waved and told him to take care. Todd told her to give everyone his love. 

Thanksgiving Day in Manchester was just like any other Thursday. Feeling cheated out of a public holiday, he headed to work as usual.

Fancy pasta for tea? His wife messaged later that day.

Geez, some Thanksgiving this was turning out to be. Pasta was okay, but it sure wasn’t a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. To treat himself, he might have a beer later and check the scores of the football games. Not that he could watch the games. You needed all kinds of TV subscriptions to watch the American sports over here. All far too complicated, and an absolute rip off. There was even a debate over what the sports were called. Over here football was known as American football. What he called soccer they called football over here. If he ever called the game soccer, he was quickly corrected. Soccer? That’s football! 

Working on Thanksgiving as though it was just a normal day, was so strange. Everyone was just carrying on as though it was another day. It felt as surreal as if Christmas suddenly stopped being a thing, and the 25th December was the same as any other day of the year. Back in Kansas, across the whole of the United States there would be Thanksgivings celebrations. There would be such a festive atmosphere. And yet, here in Manchester, it was just another Thursday. 

When he arrived home, Todd was keen to have a few beers and chill out. He’d check the NFL scores and maybe even see if there was any highlight clips online somewhere later on. As he went into the living room, Donna called out from the dining room.

‘We’re in here, love.’

‘Happy Thanksgiving!’ The voices called out as he entered the room.

Donna’s parents and their closest friends cheered and clapped. A sign on the wall declared Happy Thanksgiving! The dining table was crammed full of food. There was everything, roast turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce. It looked every inch a Thanksgiving get-together. Donna beamed in delight as Todd stared in shock. 

‘What is all this?’ He asked.

‘This is Thanksgiving, Manchester-style.’ She said, handing him a beer. ‘There’s pumpkin pie in the oven too.’

‘How have you managed all this?’ 

‘I booked today off work. I asked your mom for the recipes, and I roped in my mum to help out.’

Donna’s mother theatrically bowed.

‘I can’t believe all this.’ Todd said, his voice breaking with emotion.

As they took their seats at the table and got stuck into the feast in front of them, he caught Donna’s eye.

‘I though you said we were having pasta.’ He said.

‘Pasta? It’s Thanksgiving, Todd!’ She laughed. 

After they’d eaten, Todd and Donna rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the dishwasher. Donna showed them all through to the living room. As Todd and their guests settled on the sofas, Donna grabbed the remote and pressed a few buttons. The TV screen came to life. 

‘There you go, love.’ She said.

On screen the Chicago Bears were taking on the Detroit Lions in the early NFL fixture. The American commentators described the action in excited voices.

‘We’ve got the football too? How’ve you managed that?’ Todd asked.

‘It’s a pass for a week. On one of these app thingies. And,’ she said pointing to the screen, that glint in her eyes once more, ‘that isn’t football, love, it’s American Football.’

By Chris Platt

From: United Kingdom