It’s not quite what you would call a heatwave but it’s pleasantly mild out and about today. I think that when they forecast heatwaves for the UK what they really mean is a heatwave in the south east of the country. It’s a little bit of geographical, not to say meteorological, misunderstanding.
On the subject of misunderstanding, I read that an Argentinean TV news channel got their Shakespeares mixed up. 81 year old Bill Shakespeare, the second man in the world to get the Pfizer vaccine has died, several months after being vaccinated. The Argentinean news reporter told viewers about the death of William Shakespeare:
“We’ve got news that has stunned all of us given the greatness of this man. We’re talking about William Shakespeare and his death. We’ll let you know how and why it happened.”
Over footage of Bill Shakespeare chatting as he received the vaccine, the newsreader added: “As we all know, he’s one of the most important writers in the English language – for me the master. Here he is. He was the first man to get the coronavirus vaccine. He’s died in England at the age of 81.”
Of course, her mistake went viral, leading to a host of comments:-
“There were only a few years between them,” wrote on Twitter user.
“Let us not weep for William Shakespeare,” said another. “He lived his life and enjoyed people’s affection for centuries.”
And yet another went on: “Such a fuss over William Shakespeare’s death, but they didn’t mention that he was in such a bad way that he hadn’t produced a hit in centuries. Over-rated.”
Oh dear! I bet someone feels foolish.
Closer to home, well, on this side of the world anyway, someone had an idea for combatting racism with stamps. In what was meant, I think, to be an ironic comment on how society rates skin colour, Spain’s Correos produced a set of “equality stamps”, a pale one, €1.60 one, a slightly darker €1.50 one, a brown €0.80 one, and a black €0.70 one. Here’s the rationale behind it:
“At Correos, we believe a person’s value shouldn’t have any colour, which is why we’re launching Equality Stamps, a collection of stamps in which the darker the colour of the stamp, the less its value. That’s a reflection of a painful and unfair reality that shouldn’t exist.”
But it’s all been taken the wrong way, despite being developed in collaboration with an organisation called SOS Racismo, and it’s come in for a lot of criticism from other anti-racism organisations. Sometimes you can’t do right for trying. And in an age when fewer and fewer people write letters, how effective would the stamp gesture have been anyway?
On the subject of racism, Marcus Rashford has received lots of racial abuse online after his team lost the Europa League final game against Villa Real. It’s a strange time we live in. I can understand, almost, shouts of disappointment when you are watching the match and you see a player miss a goal but taking the trouble to tweet abuse online is a different thing altogether. And even if you are present at the match, nothing excuses shouting racist abuse at a player.
Do we expect too much of professional sportspeople? Do we really expect professional footballers to score every goal they try for? When you watch tennis it’s not unusual to see a professional tennis player fluff his/her serve. If footballers can’t miss goals then surely tennis players can’t make mistakes either. Do they receive the same kind of abuse? I wonder.
Someone commenting on the Marcus Rashford abuse wondered how many of the online abusers had children receiving free meals thanks to the young footballer. A good question!
However, Marcus Rashford can perhaps take comfort from the fact that he has had a zoom chat with former US President Barack Obama, swopping experiences of growing up as black kids brought up without a father on the scene. Not bad for a 23 year old.
As regards the heatwave, I have just hung a second batch of washing on the line. The first lot is well on the way to being dry. Not bad for a May Bank Holiday weekend.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment