I ENTERED the licensed trade untrained and by chance, as I didn't drink and didn't even know the difference between mild and bitter.

Fortunately for me the lads in the vault did and I've never regretted it.

In those days the pub played a big part in people's lives.

We did the weddings, christenings and the funerals, and were the one place that had a phone, a first-aid kit, a bit of spare crockery and would always lend and a sympathetic ear.

It was a place where you could meet friends, fall in love (many did), play cards, darts, act the fool, let your hair down and if you felt like it, sing with Lilly at the piano - no easy task!

We also always had a fire so you could toast your toes.

The pub was, at the time, a cornerstone.

At weekends we entertained groups of girls and boys, usually all from the same street, and among them often would be included a youngster that had a disability of some kind, who would be treated exactly like the others.

I remember one rather nice 'backward' lad who got up on a table each week and sang, all the girls would make a huge fuss of him, it was the highlight of his and our week.

It was good to see that those youngsters weren't hidden but accepted.

And the bonus for me: I was at home when the kids came home from school.

But things change and we have become a legalistic, penalty-obsessed, stealth-taxed, soul-less society.

Go to visit someone in hospital, you pay to park.

Go over 30 miles an hour and you get fined.

You can't smoke in a public area or put stuff in the wrong bin, and don't you dare comfort a child that has hurt itself.

The list goes on and on.

To cap it all, my friend in hospital has been told by the nurses that because of 'Elf an Safety' rules they cannot cut her toenails.

I mean - this is a hospital for heaven's sake!

We are definitely in the shadow of Big Brother, but what really gets to me is that we accept it.

Have we lost the will to fight, to object?