Saturday, 28th November, 2009.
Out Of Touch
It strikes me, over and over again, that those who work in offices are constantly at odds with those who are “at the coal-face”. I suppose those four walls and comfy surroundings tend to make office-wallahs think that everyone else in the world dwell in the same conditions.
They also seem to believe that we who are “out there” work entirely to rules – please to call them “protocols” – and do not have to think for ourselves.
So I rejoiced when the Newport cabbies won their case against the local Council. That Council – or, rather, the office-wallahs who are employed by it – decided that taxis over twelve years of age would not be given Hackney Carriage licenses.
Of course – and probably in the office next door – protocols were at work to ensure that all Hackney Carriages (taxis to you and I) go through a rigorous and special MOT test each year. Therefore, whatever the age of a vehicle, if it passes such a test, it will be safe for the purpose of carrying the general public.
The local taxi-boys (and girls!) got together and fought the decision. Had the Council won, many of the drivers would have been slung on the dole. Well done, cabbies all – you achieved a victory for common-sense over officialdom!
Fighting For The Planet
Bryan McDowell is 74. He lives in Torfaen and he had a great idea.
Now, he and a couple of his friends have become The Trash Titans, a group of cartoon Superheroes battling for more and better recycling. They have their own comic-strip in the local paper, Torfaen Talks.
And they have the backing of their local Council – who said Councils are run by out-of-touch office-wallahs? Oh . . . I did . . .
This is a great way of alerting our people to the increasing dangers of Climate Change.
And There’s More
Wales is really getting to grips with helping the planet’s recovery. Up in Colwyn Bay, the Common Scoter population proliferates presently. I get a thrill every time I see one of these birds along our coastline in Wintertime.
Now that Liverpool Bay – which includes a large stretch of the North Wales coast – is to become a special protection area, we are to continue seeing scoters for many years to come.
Mind you, the decision to create that special protection area will not be made until 2010. Let us hope that not too many office-wallahs and their protocols are involved in making that decision. Whoops – what have I said . . .?
Whilst Up In The Gog . . .
. . . I heard that they’d found a stray pig.
Now, there are often stray dogs to be seen in Wales – some of ‘em simply wander off from their homes, some of ‘em are chucked out of cars in rural areas because their loving owners no longer want them.
But one notices if one’s dog disappears. So surely one would notice if a big lump of a pig wasn’t around! This wanderer is a very large pig indeed
However, at the time of writing, nobody has claimed ownership of the porker. So, perhaps, it will be filed under “Pigs, Stray” by some office-wallah up in Conwy – oh, darn it! – there I go again . . .