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Blogs by Michael Coatesworth
Who really cares
9/26/2007 5:27:24 AM
Who really cares
By
Mike Coatesworth
I’m sat in my garden early in the morning. The sky is dark and cloudy, and I’m taking stock of my surroundings as the day breaks.
To my left in the near distance there’s movement, as I spy a man coming out of his home. To be up this early he has to be going to work. I remember the early morning starts, getting up early trying to be as quiet as I could so that I didn’t wake the missus and kids. Having a quick cuppa before I set off, knowing that I would get my breakfast later at my workplace. Picking up my snap bag I’d look inside and notice that my good lady had neatly folded the greaseproof paper around my sandwiches to keep them fresh, and an apple and a small packet of biscuits, as well as my flask of hot tea. Off I’d go wearing my heavy coat and flat cap, enjoying the silent darkness as it enveloped me, walking the three miles to my place of employment, with my snap bag strap hanging from my shoulder, peace and quiet for a while as I appeared to be the only one left on the earth, that was until I neared my destination, then it was on to the daily grindstone to earn a crust.
Nowadays, the majority of the workforce no longer walks to work, it’s all transport, and if the workplace is over a certain distance, travel allowance is claimed. The average person is overweight through lack of exercise. Gone are the communal factories where one could have a laugh and joke with mates on the line and where the whole community knew each other, and when a sick employee’s job was covered by a workmate to ensure that the wages were still paid, so that sick person’s family didn’t suffer. Gone are the times when every employee was equal, and had nothing. It is particularly noticeable that the caring communities have long disappeared, especially when bodies of elderly people are found in accommodation a year after they had passed away. People want more than their neighbours, and will get into debt to achieve their goal, safe in the knowledge that if they can’t make the payments, they can always go bankrupt and start again in a year’s time.
Who cares about the person next door, who is suffering in the knowledge that if they want help they must pay for it out of the money left over from their income after shelling out for the taxes to a government whose only care is deciding which country would be best for a good suntan. When the distressed individuals do finally pluck up the courage to ask for help and dial one of the numbers that they have been given, it’s, ‘if you want financial help, press one, if you want home help press two,’ pressing two gets you, ‘if you need help with home cleaning, press one, if you need help with the toilet press number two,’ and so it goes on until the caller has rung up five or six quid in calls and receives a message, ‘sorry all our operators are busy at the moment, please call back later,’ and disconnects, leaving the totally upset caller looking for alternative help, such as strong rope to swing from. I find that today’s society is an individual world, where a person can only help themselves, as long as their not in their local supermarket, as it is then construed as theft and carries a sentence of up to five years in a cushy jail, where everyone cares!
Time for a Cuppa!
Mike Coatesworth
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September 2007 Blogs
• Who really cares - Wednesday, September 26, 2007
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