YOU are English?” one of the three teenage Italian girls asked in that cute way they turn a statement into a question. I couldn’t deny it. The pin-striped suit, regimental tie and shiny shoes were a bit of a give away.

“Do you know your national song?” asked one of the two French boys flanking the trio.

“Do you mean the National Anthem?” I replied. They did and I said I did.

“Then please to come with us to Bonn Square,” said the first girl. “Will you sing it for us?”

Not having the faintest idea what it was all about nor wishing to disappoint a lady – Englishmen in pin-striped suits and shiny shoes try to avoid this – I agreed and we quickly moved through the busy Monday morning crowd in Cornmarket Street to Queen Street and joined a mighty throng of young overseas visitors involved in some language school competition.

“If you will sing we will get 10 points,” said another of the girls. “We will be very thankful.”

So sing I did, below the Oxfordshire Light Infantry memorial; not melodiously but with English pride and Yorkshire gusto. The applause was encouraging and my five new friends, now 10 points to the good, were well pleased.

Do you think I should make myself available for state events and Bar Mitzvahs?

WHAT is happening to the once iconic Oxford Bus Company? The reliability and punctuality that were bywords seem to have taken a knock recently with some vehicles turning up at frequencies that bear no resemblance to their timetables.

Drivers seem to be racing to make up time often making it uncomfortable for passengers. This can only lead to accidents. What changes have caused this?

If management wants chapter and verse, my e-mail is above.

MAUDIE – she volunteered her name – was studying the board outside the Port Mahon in St Clement’s. A few minutes earlier she had spent time looking at a poster in Subway. Her expression was dark.

This white-haired great-grandmother (she admitted to this too!) eventually spoke out.

“Everyone is offering reduced prices for two meals. It’s all over the city. Why should a couple be favoured in this way? It isn’t punishing single folk, but it isn’t doing them any favours,” she said.

Trying to lighten the situation, I suggested she found herself a young man to accompany her when dining out.

“Not likely. I had enough trouble getting rid of my husband,” she said.

A divorce? No, she was a widow. Putting on a serious voice, I asked how long she had been on her own.

“Three years,” she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “It took years to get him to eat those mushrooms!”