In the 1949 film Whisky Galore a ship runs aground off a small Scottish island, an island which has run out of whisky, due apparently to wartime rationing. Conveniently the ship is carrying whisky and the islanders plunder the vessel, against the wishes of the customs and excise officer, and make off with cases of bottle os whisky. Huzzah!
The other day I read that residents of Brighton are finding their beach littered with the contents of containers which have been washed overboard from container ships: single use plastic gloves, lids for disposable coffee cups, cans of beer and a variety of vegetables such as onions. Litter picking has been organised, although it’s not easy to deal with soggy avocados and rotting bananas. The article doesn’t mention it but I wondered if the locals availed themselves of the net bags of onions. Might those onions have survived their dip in the briny? Are the people of Brighton having lots of onion soup?
I always thought it was the Cornish coast that was the place for boats to be lured onto the rocks so that profiteers could run off with the valuable cargo!
Today I read about the problem of children starting school, going to reception class without having been properly toilet trained, unused to feeding themselves, to putting their own coats and shoes on - lacking basic life skills. Extra work for the teaching staff! Some of this is blamed on the isolation of having been born during the Covid lockdown. I am a little sceptical. Even if Grandma couldn’t visit the babies and toddlers, surely they were advising the new parents on the importance and the convenience of getting the toddlers out of nappies and able to develop a measure of independence! One bit of me wonders about the disappearance of the health visitors who used to go around checking up on new parents and advising on the stages of development in early childhood. In the case of our youngest grandson, before he was able to be enrolled for preschool his parents had to ensure that he could put his own coat and shoes on and that he knew how to eat with a knife and fork.
The aforementioned grandson, now six years old, is a proficient user of certain aspects of IT. He knows how to find his programmes on our television set and works his way through Minecraft on his tablet. But he also likes to listen to a good story, has been known to weep at the plight of baby owls, and loves to demand a piece of paper, some glue and scissors to do what he calls a “make” - usually a Minecraft creature or some monster of the deep sea with lots of teeth. He is definitely not one of the children adversely affected by excessive screen time referred to in this article. I was astounded at how many children younger than our small grandson reportedly have their own mobile phone.
On the subject of proficiency with IT, I am still having problems posting photos to my blog, despite my very IT-proficient husband’s best efforts. I am also finding that since the latest software update to my iPad many more of my usual ways of doing things have become more complicated. My once good IT skills are deteriorating!
The writer Adrian Chiles points out a notice he saw on staffroom noticeboard on a recent visit to a school:
Learners remember 10% of what they read; 20% of what they hear; 30% of what they see; 50% of what they see and hear; 70% of what they discuss with others; 80% of personal experience; 90% of what they teach someone else.
There you go.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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