On a very serious level, I am quite perturbed that we have little kids being tried in an adult court (for rape), and a school teacher is driven to beat a pupil with a dumbbell because his class is seeing how far he can be wound up before he snaps. In both cases only the court knows the full facts so I won't pass judgement, but both are very unsettling, and a sign that we have a very dysfunctional society that needs to act quickly and decisively to find a way of re-balancing how society deals with children.
On another note, either Blogger has gone potty, or Hotmail has (may be both...or are they the same organisation?), as comments on my blog are only arriving in my in- box about 12 hours after they're posted....a minor irritation amongst many!
Last weekend was ridiculously full. Friday night we were out at a local fish restaurant (we'd run out of energy to cook...and more importantly clear away and wash up afterwards). Saturday was taken up with a wedding, Sunday a 50th Birthday Party followed by a celebratory dinner for a confirmation. I was so glad to get back to the office yesterday to relax...what a pain that it was such a rubbish day in the office!
I'll share some highlights of the weekend:
At the wedding they were trying to tread a careful line between an Essex wedding and something the rest of the world would understand. The Rod Stewart impersonator who sang and strutted over the wedding breakfast may have just tipped the balance. The fly-by of three bi-planes was allegedly nothing to do with the wedding, but I refuse to be convinced. Of course there was a disco, but best was the singer who could belt out a song better than the original artist (oh for the days of K-Tel). She was flown over from Marbella specially.
It was brilliant, but my legs ached as never before the next day.
At the birthday lunch I was at one moment talking to the Chief Executive of one of the UK's largest charities, and the next to a bloke who had been educated at a run down comprehensive in Barking and become a stone mason. He carves gravestones...and on the back of that is buying his first Ferrari. I staggered out having drunk a gallon of champagne.
Essex...it's a place of contrasts.