Racism: Alive and well, living in Guildford, Surrey.

A subject I have been minded to tackle a few times before, but an incident today (Sunday 3rd of February 2013) has fired me up a little. 

We had just parked up at Sainsburys, Burpham, Guildford. It was a busy Sunday as usual and we couldn't find a family parking slot. Our little two year old is quite alive and we need to hold her hand tight as we walk across the car park.
 As we walked past the family parking as one slot became available it was immediately taken by a Fiat 500 with an older gentleman and younger man with child seat, but no child to be seen. Admittedly I gave them an evil stare. They got out and brushed past us making a few unsavoury remarks which I would dare not repeat in the presence of children or polite company. The younger fellow then said well I've got a car seat in the back so I'm all right. An answer to a question that no one had asked out loud. My retort was perhaps a little devils advocate as I said "well stupid is as stupid does". The older man, I presume the father of the younger walked up to me and put his face to mine as he produced a string of expletives. Be minded that my little girl was holding my hand and mummy was to her side. I told him that he was a 'deplorable human being'. He walked away calling me a "bloody foreigner" and then stood at the entrance to Sainsbury's and produced a Nazi salute. I imagine all the CC TV cameras would have got a lens full. My Grandfather who saw the second world war first hand and many like him will not have been too pleased that a countryman of theirs behaves as such.

It might be worth mentioning that am slightly olive skinned and have curly hair. I am the descendant of Celtic, English, Arabic and (we believe) Persian ancestors. I am a Welsh Rugby nut and see myself as whole heartedly British. Saying that it should not be relevant. What was a minor non vocal and non violent displeasure at something small turned into an unnecessary racist tirade.

Do we blame ignorance? Do we blame education or the lack thereof? Does anyone have the right to be ignorant in this age of information? So is it pure for the, sake of it, hatred? Questions I do not have the answer for. All I can say is my experience is real. Does the younger man feel ashamed of the older one's actions I wonder? He too is a father. So let's hope so. If you'd like to know how it feels then imagine your stomach being pulled out and someone starts to rummage in your guts.

I said at the start that I have been minded to tackle this subject before. Compared to many my experiences are very few. The sources of them are often more shocking to me and almost always the culprits have been over 55. Our children should grow up to a better place than this. But they wont if we just walk on by. Flush them out and shame them. Let everyone know who they are. If others cheer then we know who they are too.

Dear Mr Osborne

So if I buy my employers shares i have to:

ARTIST: Robert Johnson
TITLE: Crossroads
Lyrics and Chords


[As performed by Cream]

I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knee
Down to the crossroads, fell down on my knee
Ask the Lord up above for mercy, take me if you please

/ G7 C7 G7 - / C7 - G7 - / D7 C7 G7 - /

I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride
Nobody seemed to know me, everybody passed me by

Well I'm going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side
Going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side
We can still barrelhouse, baby, on the riverside

You can run, you can run, tell my friend, boy, Willie Brown
Run, you can run, tell my friend, boy, Willie Brown
And I'm standing at the crossroads, believe I'm sinking down

reproduced from:

http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/crossroa.htm

If you need the chord tabs then just leave a comment and I'll add them later.

On the farm.

'Europe or bust', it said.  I am refering to an article in the Christmas week(Bumper Festive Double) issue of Farmer's Weekly.
We spend every other Christmas up on the Farm in North Yorkshire and we have regular jaunts up from 'the beautiful south' so that our little girl has regular contact with the Northern Grandparents and so they can see their little girl of course.

I am always fascinated culturally with the way of life and to the regular expression of political view which is often at least as complex as its urban equivalent.

Farmers are inherently conservative. They believe themselves to be and, on matters close to home,  I find this to generally be true. Which brings me back to the article I have referenced at the top. On the front cover of the magazine it read: Debate. Outside the EU, would British agriculture sink or swim?  I imagined on turning to the page there would be rant after rant of how awful Europe is and how we would be better off on our own and so on and so forth.  To my surprise,  the opposite was generally true.  The more learnered discussion was generally in favour(of Europe) while most of the voices against were made of populist sound bites and little substance.  This to me was a little disappointing as I was very intereted to hear (read)  a constructive debate.  The only problem the pro European arguments may have had here is that they were presented too academically.

So is there a grand misconception regarding the 'Rurals'? Much in the same way as I sometimes get the impression that out here they think all townies are unionist and Marxist? My impression is, of course, wrong (well slightly), their (the Rurals) impression is too and so is the general impression the 'Urbans' seem to have of the farming world. As every good politicians says at least once in their life, it is much more complex than that.

The only thing that confuses me is why a people who are as reluctant to embrace change as the next person are so anti trade union for that very trait?  Mince pie anyone?

The headless chicken raises it's ugly tail twice!

As a Fidelity client I often get letters when there is a little termoil in the equity markets. As you can imagine, I've had a few lately.The author of the latest was laying the blame firmly on the lack of leadership in political circles.  A sentiment I share and a frustration many are starting to bare. The HP debacle that seems to have been playing out over a number of months and which came to a head in the past week exposes a similar problem at the technology giant.

I have had this feeling myself sitting at tables in meetings watching people hoping someone else will tell them what to do. Oh Iggy 'Chairman of the bored/board' I'm so bored as they fiddle and things crumble beneath them.

I vote for the highly intelligent Rottweiler rather than the charming 'know it all'. 

'So you can't hear them scream'

A few weeks ago,  I couldn't attend a seminar at the local University Technology Centre on 'Selling in hard times' as I was baby sitting my daughter.  I asked a friend who had attended to give me a  summary. He eventually gave me copy of his notes which were well rationalised sales techniques,  but when we spoke about it the language was much more emotive. The notes were paraphrasing the speaker whereas here he was speaking of the collective sombre, anxious, defeatist sentiments from the audience. Most were apparently showing grave concerns for the austerity measures which were bringing their livelihoods to halt. What he actually said was,  ' if you are going to kill them,  slit their throats so you don't have to hear them scream!'.

A brand New Frying pan!

5 live in my car with Victoria Derbyshire as I consume the fumes of the M25 on my way to visit a supplier and 'Yates of the yard' is being grilled by MPs. Apparently nothing done within his department is anything to do with him as there are 4000 people doing it and can't have his finger on every pulse. I caught the end of Ian Blair's testimony just as I got on the road and his line was similar. At least Ronald Reagan said he couldn't remember and was subsequently proved right with his terrible illness. Prime executives, Chief or otherwise, if worth their pay packet should have every finger and more in every pie and on every pulse in their organisation either directly of through their delegates. Else to what end do they exist? If the chaps are struggling to multi task perhaps more ladies should be in charge?!

All of this reminds me, we need a new non-stick frying pan at home. The one I normally use is starting to cling to eggs and it's leaving little black bit on the tomatoes.

It's the people stupid!

Nothing to learnum here!

As cringe worthy and damn site anger stimulating things like Daily Mail headlines and Sarah Palin utterings can be to many they are certainly very effective in communicating with their audience. The recent, UK Conservative government led anti Alternative Vote campaign could, too, be viewed as having been plucked from the same reference book.

Readers of the broadsheet press will have gazed upon harsh and to some extent dismissive criticism of all of the above for being simplistic, populist and vulgar and yet their effectiveness is undiminished. Take Sarah Palin's book for example and combine it with her political short(video) that came out during the Mid term US elections. Both seen as tabloid, cliche and lacking in any cranial content. That is to quote some of the politest of critics. One could argue, however, that they are a stroke of genius. Ms Palin, the Daily Mail and Messrs Cameron et al. are fully aware to whom they are speaking and have tailored their messages perfectly. Sometimes the truth is a victim, but the audience is happy and the agendas are met. We dare not educate them else they might know what they are voting for(or against as is more likely)!

In much the same way that the Thatcherite philosophy of the 1980s relied on a large pool of unemployed to succeed this neo libertarian, staunch conservatism (an oxymoron if there ever was') relies on a pseudo educated masses to steamroller its' engine through.

It has been interesting to hear comments from my peers here in Britain while observing the news on the Arab spring. As young Egyptinas and Tunisians face cameras and articulate in good english about political freedoms and what not and to find out that some of them are shop keepers, taxi drivers and manual workers yet command a level of education we wouldn't expect on UK shop floors. That's unless they were Polish of course!

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