This morning I made myself get out of bed just before my alarm rang. I was expecting Granddaughter Number Two to arrive. In fact, there had been a possibility that her mother might drop her off on her way to work. That may well explain why I was awake before my alarm rang, on the off chance that the doorbell might ring while I was still in bed. In the event she must have decided to stay in bed a little longer and caught a bus, arriving in Delph just after I returned from my run.
She’s writing assignments for university and I think the main reason for coming and working here, apart from enjoying my cheese toasties, is so that she can bounce ideas and wording off me. I have no problem with that.
We’ve just had a discussion about “in regard to” versus “in regards to”. The internet tells us this:-
“What does in regards to mean? In regards to is another variation of the same phrase. In general, this version is considered inferior, just like its close sibling with regards to.”
Discrimination exists even in language use.
Much is made of the effects of covid lockdowns on small children and their social development. My Spanish niece seems to use it as an excuse for any kind of awkward behaviour on the part of her small son. I suppose it explains a certain clinginess, as those children spent more time with their parents, and often their mother in particular, but it can’t be a blame-hound for everything. One factor is that health visitors, who traditionally had a big influence in checking that children successfully went through the various stages of development, were no longer around - the result of cuts as much as of covid.
And now we have children going to nursery and preschool unable to feed themselves properly with a knife and fork and in some extreme cases unable to speak properly. Our Grandson Number Two, before starting preschool, had to be able to take his shoes off and put them on by himself, likewise his coat, hat and gloves. It’s not the teachers’ job to train children to eat in a civilised manner. They have more important tasks. And now I read that Kier Starmer thinks that teeth-cleaning should become part of the primary school routine. I can understand the motivation behind this. After all we have a growing problem with small children having to go to hospital because of dental problems. But really, there are other priorities to be addressed in eduction, or so it seems to me.
Here’s something else. It really makes me laugh how people post stuff on Facebook appreciation-of-singers sites. Up pops a photo of, for example, Bruce Springsteen relaxing in a garden somewhere, or sitting with his family. Someone is bound, absolutely bound to comment! “Haven’t seen that one before!” just as if they had access to ALL the Springsteen family snaps. The cult of the personality. Almost as bad as those who use these groups as a way of selling T-shirts!
And finally, and more seriously, here’s Michael Rosen’s latest comment on events going on at the moment:
“'What should we do when judges are wrong?' said the King.
'Several possibilities,' said the King's tutor. 'We can kill them.'
'Seems a bit extreme,' said the King.
'We can produce some documents to show that they are corrupt, sinful and criminal,' said the tutor.
'I like that,' said the King.
'We can try and ignore them and everything they say,' said the tutor.
'Not usually possible,' said the King.
'But if we both ignore them and prevent the people from hearing what the judges say,' said the tutor, 'that might work.'
'How would we prevent the people from hearing what the judges say?' said the King.
'We make sure that the scribes are either not in court, or that we make sure that what the scribes write, isn't published,' said the tutor.
'Very neat,' said the King.
'Thank you, sir,' said the tutor.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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