The Royal Train Tour

 OK...I'll just say this from the get-go...I don't have much time for the Royal Family. Don't have anything in particular against William and Kate. I like the frocks and will freely admit that I bought Hello magazine after both William and Harry's weddings...in fact, had a bit of a morning tea here for Harry's wedding. But it's the frocks that I like. 

I find it a nonsense to imagine myself 'subject' to the Queen...I don't object to the money as such unless I really start to think about it. 

(although I did blow a bit of a gasket when Meghan and Harry were in discussions about who should pay for their security detail when they decided they were packing it all in and also when they got arsey about when we could see photographs of the Princelet...)

What I really object to is the IDEA of them...the Divine right...the specialness...the kow-towing...the forelock tugging...the 'Your Majesty'-ing. Can't do it...

Anyway...clear enough...I don't really have time for them but I'm sure they are perfectly nice people. So I state this to prepare the way for what is to come...

Yesterday, I read in my Twitter feed good old Val McDairmid saying 'WTActualF' is going on with a Royal Train Tour at this time of restriction, sickness, loss and grief...really...WTActualF. 

I completely agree with her...when the message to all of the unwashed is that they should wash and keep washing...they should stay home...Kate and William are touring the country in the horribly expensive royal train...maybe £20000 for the train, plus security...thank goodness Kate wore a coat she's worn 4 times before...

Are they magic? Does the virus just slide off them or wouldn't dare go near them? I thought we were not supposed to travel. There are people who have not seen family for months and are looking into a quiet Christmas and possibly a lonely New Year. But William and Kate set off on a Royal Train Tour...how bizarre.

Anyway, I read Val and I thought in a kind of mean and growly way, what a freaking carry on...

But it gets worse...I read this on Twitter...

Apologies it's a bit fuzzy...

It is suggesting that the Government requested that they take the trip to raise our morale...cheer us up...

This is where I really start to part company with the whole endeavour because I am incensed that a bunch of Tory Posh Boys are sitting around thinking that this will cheer us up...Johnson, Gove, Rees Mogg, Hancock. Raab...that they all sit braying around the same table thinking about how distract us from the utter shambles of these current times: Corona virus; Brexit...'Oh, I know, let's let them touch the hem of the garment of the blessed Kate and we're safe for another few months'. 

That the specific targets of this cheering up are the people who have risked their lives and knocked their pan in to look after the people who are sick or need some support looking after themselves is, in my view, cynical in the extreme. Having starved them out of society over that long period of austerity they are finding different ways to rub salt into their broken hearts, tired bones and fragile psyches.  

Tories

And then, just when I thought that it couldn't get worse it just did.

Facebook provided me with this little nugget...

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the regulator for the Social Service Workforce in Scotland. Over 200 000 people working in social services in Scotland: social care workers, social workers, students in a range of settings such as residential and day care, community facilities as well as in people's homes. There is not a single one of them unaffected by this pandemic. They will have bravely and consistently put themselves on the line to ensure that the people they work for get the support they need. 

They are the people who have been at the bedside of people dying of COVID-19 in nursing homes. They are the people who have altered the rhythm and routine of their lives to minimise the numbers of people going into someone's house and cut down the risk of spreading the virus. They have worried and cried and sweated in PPE and got rashes on their faces wearing masks. They've queued at supermarkets and been passed over in favour of NHS workers. They've clapped for NHS workers until their efforts were finally recognised and someone included them in the acknowledgment. And they've done it for £9.30 an hour...sometimes even less. 

The SSSC knows all of that. And the SSSC thinks it is lovely that Prince William and Catherine are visiting frontline workers to pass on the nation's thanks for their work over these past months. 

It's somehow easier to take that from the politicians and the royals. We've come to expect this from them - although the bare faced cheek of this bunch of Tory posh boys does take the breath away.

It's just disappointing from the SSSC. I sort of thought they were on our side. That they got the complexity of the situations we work in. That as the regulator the SSSC was bothered that it was done right. 

Disappointing

I wonder if there's something else that the SSSC might be saying on behalf of the social care workers in Scotland.

 

Might they be saying that really...a flying visit to some carefully chosen people in some carefully chosen setting is not going to mean very much to the bulk of the 200 000 workforce. 

Might they be saying 'Stop trying to distract us with the sleight of hand that is Kate's coat and hairstyle and join with us to say that enough is enough...that there is no more fat to trim...that quality care does come at a price and it would be bloody marvellous your royal highness if you could tell Boris and his pals to stop treating us like we're daft and instead make some of the changes needed to assist the people we work for to live better lives'

But, it is lovely, lovely...it's all lovely...the travelling...the foolishness...the cynicism...

Seriously SSSC...Are you having a laugh?

The Fabulous Richard Hill

 I said yesterday that in the 5 years or so since I last wrote a piece for the blog I've experienced all of the major life events but really, there is only one event. 

Not so much an event...more a person...Richard Lawrence Hill. 

When I was leaving my job at C-Change and was wondering what on earth I was going to do my lovely friend Rhona Ferrier encouraged me to write. And to write about Rick. 

I'd shied away from it because I couldn't imagine how I could write about him without it being maudlin and self-indulgent. I didn't want a pity party and anyway, I had no idea about what to say...my husband died and...? I wasn't sure about the 'and'...and what?

My husband died and I was sad.

My husband died and I had to move house and...I was sad.

My husband died and I had to move house and then decided to move to another country and...I was sad.

My husband died 5 years ago and you know what?

I am still sad.

(The little Google icon has appeared in the corner and is telling me that my text may sound sad and gloomy to the reader. That's not at all how I want this to sound because life with Richard was never that. And honestly, you don't have to worry.)

While living without Richard is undeniably sad my life with him was as far from sad as you can imagine. It was frustrating, challenging, infuriating, complicated, intense, scrutinised, commented on, exhausting, joyous, safe, funny, kind, loving...there was passion, gentleness, kindness...
It was real life. It was a good life.

And Richard died. Because that's how life is...

You only hope that people get the opportunity to live that good life and I saw Richard do that. I saw him wring every last drop out of living. And I saw him live it BIG. He lived every one of his almost 55 years to the full...he lived it big and brave.
It was a marvellous force to be around...magnetic and vibrant...

Never appreciated as it should have been but...that's life.

And Richard died. Because that's how life is. 

When I started writing this I thought I was going to write some happy little story of how we met. And then I thought I could tell you something about how we lived and then maybe I would write later on about when he died. 

But it seems that this might be the thing that's been waiting to be said for 5 years.

My husband died 5 years ago and I am sad. But I'm so happy that he loved me.

Let's just see what happens...

It has been a very long time since I've posted on this blog. A lot has happened between now and then. Almost all of the big 'life events' have been experienced and as that's been happening I've been swept up in the turmoil of it all and have found myself in a place that sure isn't Kansas.

And there has been this year. This Corona/COVID-19 year. 

This is the year I became 60! I managed to sneak all of the celebrations in just before lockdown began and so I was lucky to celebrate and share it all with family and friends. February was a glorious month of meet-ups and gifts and afternoon teas and gifts and karaoke, balloons and cake...

Then March came along and somehow things slipped away over the lockdown. Work was done differently. Friendships were done differently. Our rituals for celebration and grief became impossible to perform. We communicated remotely through screens and on-line and assembled, masked, and distantly. Everything was different.

Now it's December. And things have changed again. I've thought a lot about what I was doing and after three years at C-Change I've left my job. I'm not really sure what's next but I've got this thing about stories and finding ways to tell them...so I think it involves more writing. 

Maybe some on-line work with some people in Perth?

Maybe some things that I have not even imagined and have yet to discover? Who knows? 

I'm going to try and write about what I notice and learn as I go along. I'm going to write every day as we head into the new year. After that, who knows?

If you're kind enough to read this my hope is that we'll share some common experiences. If it turns out not to be your cup of tea then that's OK...as I said in the very first intro, just close the door quietly behind and come back anytime you like.

And let's just see what happens...

'I'm about going about into the world and noticing 

stuff, and going home and writing it down, and putting

it next to other stuff I've noticed and 

seeing what happens'

Pam Houston