Fully in charge

Listening to the conversation at another table (I was eating out again) one is reminded of the different bubbles each person, including myself, live in.
They were posh, old and fully confident that what they had to say carried some weight and they were sure that what they said and thought represented a strand of sanity in a crazy world which now differed measurably from the days when the Empire was built.
My ears first attuned to the talk when Cecil Rhodes was mentioned. The one old buffer was in lightweight gear, on his way back to the continent from a holiday in the UK. The other his brother, if features are anything to go, by was more akin to the UK environment with its guarded reflections and hidden patterns of communication.
To the expat, Rhodes was all that Empire stood for and he was not of the opinion that we, 'as the collective Brit' had anything to apologise for. The other worn by the censorious environment in which he lives was more reticent about the Empire but happy to concur with his brother on this one. One can imagine there had been a fair amount of jousting during his brothers stay and the light hearted banter about the need to get to the airport on time, was poo pooed by the visitor "no need to panic" since time ran to a different beat down on the estate overseas. Until you saw the tail lights of the plane as it took off, all the rest was conjecture and should be treated as such.
I have been in both camps and the joie de vivre of not confirming to type, released from the strictures of an overbearing condescension which segments of society here insist upon is invigorating even when you are a working class lad, never mind when carrying the traditions of centuries old privilege on your shoulders. The accents and the confidence were not learnt, you were born with them, they were your heritage and one could see either of the men, fully in charge, where ever and what ever the environment.