Our granddaughter is staying with us at this the tail end of her summer holidays.
Today was a day for shopping at West Quays - we go there when she visits as it is our pleasure to treat her to a few bits and pieces - including some stuff for us.
On the way into Southampton, I noticed something a bit different. There were flags in places I had never seen before.
Some Union Jacks, others the cross of St George, and as I drove past, the Queen Mary 2 was also in town. Maybe it was for her benefit? I pondered what this meant.
We parked up in the multi-storey and walked through to the High Street - granddaughter had already done her research and knew exactly which shops she wanted to go to.
The weather was windy and very changeable - rain and sun were what the forecast predicted and so it delivered.
In a sunny but windy break, I sat down with several bags full of shopping to watch the world go by.
It's been a while since I just sat down and watched.
In the distance, a street busker I had seen in Salisbury was playing a cover of one of my favourite Pink Floyd numbers.
This is a unique act - he is one man with a skeleton drummer - all fully playing with bass, kettle and cymbals - a miracle - but amazing.
He was wonderful and while there I and many passers-by enjoyed the set.
Every shape, colour, some mixed-race, language, sex, age, complexion, weight, some with so many body decorations (tattoos) that the skin had disappeared often with every colour of hair.
People in wheelchairs, toddlers, babies in prams and being held tight.
Rowdy teenagers and many with friends seeking to find a shop they wanted to frequent.
Some seemed to zero into a particular shop - one our granddaughter was in with my wife - all aiming for the same top or pair of jeans.
This was an education for me so I asked the shop assistant why so many congregated on the same product - she just said TikTok.
All the world was in Southampton High Street.
It was busy and buzzing - there were also the remains of sleeping bags in the odd shop doorway, the occasional person squatting on the pavement with a mug - but all was peaceful in this constant stream of people.
This very "normal" congregation all dedicated to shopping, passing through or just walking by is what most of our cities in England look and feel like.
This melting pot of people going about their business freely is what we take for granted.
The young people passing often with friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds behaving like they are friends for life.
The normality of all these streams of life living, working, playing and shopping together happening before my eyes.
This is the England that rubs shoulders on a daily basis - this melting pot is what we are.
So, if the flags are a celebration of this, the real England we all live in, then let's have many more.
But if they are there to divide us and spread discourse, then they are unhelpful.
My last dramatic observation while sitting there on the High Street was in the distance seeing a small crowd assembling - an elderly man had fallen and seemed seriously injured.
The ambulance was there in and around 10 minutes, but people of all ages surrounded him with a large African woman cradling his head in her lap.
The crew of two, including a young Asian woman, soon carefully, tenderly and with grace took over.