Floods? Post-lockdown oddities. The return of Teresa May?

The weatherman on the radio tells me that the dull, damp grey weather we are currently experiencing will soon be on its way out. Well, thank good ness for that! The bit of the River Tame that runs through our village is bouncing along as full as full can be.

I have had a bit of communication online about this with a friend who lives in Greece. Their local river, she tells me, has gone back to being used by the locals as a carpark. She added this little story: “I remember just the once it suddenly rained long and hard early one September. One poor man rushed to his car to drive it to safety but the car, with him in it, got swept downstream. The local police managed to block the car by driving one of their landrovers into a shallow area just short of the sea. They quite likely saved his life!”

We don’t usually have that sort of problem around here. Mind you, there is a building next to the river in the village centre, the building that used to be a bakery, which has a marker stone indicating the flood level on the 13th of July 1872, about 10 feet or more above the normal level of the river. Clearly July has been wet in other years too.

Among the odd consequences of coming out of lockdown is the news that vIsitors to Japan’s amusement parks are being asked not to scream when riding rollercoasters so as to help prevent spreading the coronavirus. Similarly the limited numbers of football fans allowed into stadiums there this weekend are being asked to support their teams without singing, clapping or waving scarves. 

Customers at the Fuji-Q Highland theme park complained it was impossible to stay quiet on rides, particularly the two-kilometre-long Fujiyama rollercoaster, which reaches speeds of 130km/h and drops 70 metres at one point. Named after nearby Mount Fuji, the rollercoaster was the fastest and tallest in the world when it opened in 1996. In response, the park released a video of two stony-faced senior executives riding Fujiyama without uttering a peep, urging visitors to imitate them and “Keep your screams inside.”

There is, of course, a simple answer: close the ride for the time being. I have never understood the appeal of roller coaster rides anyway.

Church of England bishops have been criticised by their church leaders because of tweets they made about Dominic Cummings. Surely if we have an establishment church its officials should be allowed to make comments about what goes on in the country. Indeed, I would say they have a duty to do so. Is this criticism another attack on our freedom to express opinions?

Much less amusingly, a bus driver in France has been left brain dead after being assaulted by passengers. He refused to allow some men onto his bus as they were not wearing face masks. So they pulled him from his cab, threw him to the ground and proceeded to punch and kick him into unconsciousness. Bus drivers should not have to behave as traffic policemen. But, what kind of people get so angry about what is a reasonable travel requirement that they completely lose control? 

And over in the United States, lack of anger management has led some drivers to drive their cars quite deliberately into crowds of protesters. At least one person has died as a result. These are frightening times!

As I listen to the radio news, I find myself wondering if Teresa May is thinking of making a comeback. Recently we had her criticism of the government and today she comments on the dangers of working from home for people with abusive partners. Often, she maintains, for women in an abusive relationship work is a safe place they can escape to and lead a normal life. It gives them a bolt hole where their self esteem is not attacked and they can be the person they choose to be. Employers, Mrs May tells us, need to think carefully about who to encourage to work from home. Interesting!

But also interesting is the re-emergence of Mrs May! Hmmm...!

 Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!