The man with a hook where his hand had been shouted "F**k your workers, your Harold Wilson is just a c**t". I was sitting next to Dave, the Shop Steward who just stared briefly at the hook and picked up his Daily Mirror to read the back page. Later that day, in the stores, the hook caught me through the collar of my store coat and I was pulled across the counter "where's my f**king welding rods?". The warehouse manager looked the other way, a flash of disgust at my stupidity in getting caught had crossed his face. I said "if you won't do anything I'll talk to Dave". "You'd be f**king lucky the manager said, Dave got him the job in the first place!".
It took me a few weeks to get to know how Dave thought. He was an original, a non-conformist socialist. When the mouthy man with a hook lost his hand the management were going to sack him but Dave knew that the man's pride, his income, his wife, his children and the life of a small pocket of the town would be damaged far worse that the loss of a hand if the job went as well.
There are still good people like Dave in Britain. Those who know communities and empathise with even the objectionable and criminal because they can see the context. As I have got older I realise that this empathy can come with age and experience. He could see that all people need to be treated for their humanity and that supporting the cohesion of the little tribes, for all their stupidity, kept a community healthy. All they had was each other, their feeling of belonging.
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In Croydon the senior pharmacist checks the school uniform of her teenage children, sends them off to school then goes to the Rotary Club. There are other British people with black skins in the Club and the issue isn't "why aren't there more blacks in Rotary", its "why won't any younger people join?", the younger business people are going to "Business Link" clubs and don't care for charity. At the meeting they announce £10,000 raised for the local youth and sports club.
Again in Croydon, in the local court a black woman is being tried for almost killing a white burglar. The prosecution and then the judge point out that the law is clear in cases such as this. The largely white jury find her not guilty to the obvious distaste of the judge.
Meanwhile, up in town, the students debate the EU, they cannot see why having the German system of trial by Judges would be any different from the UK system and consider suggestions to the contrary to be nationalist or even racist. One of the speakers says that the anti-EU sentiment is largely held by the ignorant and that all the polls show that educated, middle class people were pro-EU. Being anti-EU is supporting your tribe against decent people and is clearly the bigotry of chavs and racists.
The commuter train passes the hall where the students are meeting and as the commuters go home to their houses in the suburbs many look at their homes and feel a sense of pride at owning the garden, the house and the car. Something they have created, somewhere that they can raise their children, something they can sell when they retire. A locality where they can be proud.
28/2/2016
It took me a few weeks to get to know how Dave thought. He was an original, a non-conformist socialist. When the mouthy man with a hook lost his hand the management were going to sack him but Dave knew that the man's pride, his income, his wife, his children and the life of a small pocket of the town would be damaged far worse that the loss of a hand if the job went as well.
There are still good people like Dave in Britain. Those who know communities and empathise with even the objectionable and criminal because they can see the context. As I have got older I realise that this empathy can come with age and experience. He could see that all people need to be treated for their humanity and that supporting the cohesion of the little tribes, for all their stupidity, kept a community healthy. All they had was each other, their feeling of belonging.
If you like this article use the buttons at the bottom to share it with your friends or email a link to them.
In Croydon the senior pharmacist checks the school uniform of her teenage children, sends them off to school then goes to the Rotary Club. There are other British people with black skins in the Club and the issue isn't "why aren't there more blacks in Rotary", its "why won't any younger people join?", the younger business people are going to "Business Link" clubs and don't care for charity. At the meeting they announce £10,000 raised for the local youth and sports club.
Again in Croydon, in the local court a black woman is being tried for almost killing a white burglar. The prosecution and then the judge point out that the law is clear in cases such as this. The largely white jury find her not guilty to the obvious distaste of the judge.
Meanwhile, up in town, the students debate the EU, they cannot see why having the German system of trial by Judges would be any different from the UK system and consider suggestions to the contrary to be nationalist or even racist. One of the speakers says that the anti-EU sentiment is largely held by the ignorant and that all the polls show that educated, middle class people were pro-EU. Being anti-EU is supporting your tribe against decent people and is clearly the bigotry of chavs and racists.
The commuter train passes the hall where the students are meeting and as the commuters go home to their houses in the suburbs many look at their homes and feel a sense of pride at owning the garden, the house and the car. Something they have created, somewhere that they can raise their children, something they can sell when they retire. A locality where they can be proud.
28/2/2016
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