Hi Everyone
If you can remember that far back you will know that as children we went to school. Most of us were taken on our first day at infant school by our mother and then every day after that we walked to school with our friends in the rain or snow with a runny nose or hacking cough while never being late. We were five years old. We would not realise it at the time but in many ways that defined much of our life to come. Even at that age, we had a degree of freedom and independence, and we were very respectful of our school teachers, the local policeman, and almost everyone we came in contact with. Most of us would never even think about playing truant from school and if you did, your parents would get a knock on the door from the school board man. He was a man of authority and not to be messed with. The point of all this rubbish is that this week I read that almost 160,000 children in the UK are receiving little or no education. I would guess that, in part, that is due to a number of reasons but I think that many of us who are approaching middle age will point to poor parenting, a general decline in the respect we have for others, and something that we never considered - that it is always the fault of someone else.
If you are a long time Rubbish reader you will know that for the Senior Partner, Good Friday was the worst day of the year. The problem was that the pavement in front of the Fruit, Vegetable, Flower, Lolly, and Game shop was very narrow. Two people could just pass each other without risking life and limb by having to step into the main road unless unless one of the pedestrians was a young mum pushing one of those large prams that were popular at that time. What was different about Good Friday was Betty's fresh fish shop next door, you know the lady with the man's hair cut and trilby hat who knew all the swear words. Now because it was traditional to eat fish on Good Friday, it was the one day in the year that Betty had a long queue outside her shop. Of course. the queue from her door could have gone either way down the pavement, but for some mysterious reason, it always went past the front of the Senior Partners shop preventing easy access through the door. The Junior Partner was usually in trouble for not making sure that the queue went the other way, but the saving grace was that it was very unusual to see a young mum with a large pram in the queue.
When I first started to work Easter was something we very much looked forward to as it was the first public holiday since Boxing Day at Christmas and so the first break from the five and a half day working week. last weekend thousands of schoolchildren and students were stuck on coaches for hours at Dover due to the customs checks both here and in France. This weekend the delays still continue at Dover and, in addition, Euston station is closed for four days for engineering works causing serious problems for those travelling north. Me?. I will be sitting in the sun with Dot in our garden with a cup of coffee, a hot cross bun and a chocolate bunny. Happy Easter.
Just a Thought :
This week I phoned the impatience sufferer's helpline. I was in a queue.
I can't even count how many times I failed at basic arithmetic.
Have a happy Easter and a great week.
Brian
140,000 children
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