The cost of things.

 Here we are in June already! The year seems to be zooming past at a furious rate of knots. 

Donald Trump has been found guilty of a multitude of things but this does not seem to put his supporters off. Rather they respond with comments like: A sham show trial. A kangaroo court. A total witch-hunt. Worthy of a banana republic.

It’s all costing him money tthough: “Donald Trump’s paper fortune dropped by hundreds of millions of dollars on Friday as shares in his media firm came under pressure in the wake of his conviction in his New York hush-money trial.” 

Oh dear! 

Joe Biden on the other hand has been trying to be seen as the peace-qmaker, proposing yet another “road map” for peace in the Middle East. Mr Netanyahu, however, does not seem impressed by it and continues to declare that the war will continue until Hamas is eradicated. So he’s bombed the market in Ramallah! 

I read this article by Aamna Mohdin, a former Somali refugee, now a British citizen, about her return to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where she spent part of her childhood. One thing that struck me was the amount of money her family spent on bribes and air fares to het away from there and eventually to the UK. Those who attempt to cross the Channel in small, unsafe boats also pay large amounts of money to get away. 

And yet there are many who simply don’t have the funds even to try to escape and will spend their lives in those camps. Somehow we imagine the camps being just collections of tents but Aamna Mohdin writes about going to school there, going to the market and so on. Attempts to establish some kind of normality. What frightened her most in her childhood there were the toilets, the squat loos with foot-shaped places to stand and balance over a hole in the ground - which she feared as a child she might fall into.

And here in the UK we can pay large amounts of money to keep children entertained in school holidays. While my daughter and I were visiting my son, getting all the small cousins together, I paid £30+ for a family ticket to get into the animal sanctuary where we met James the Hedgehog. The young lady selling is tickets spent some time working out the cheapest way to get three adults and three children into the place. She didn’t really need to do that. After all, the money was going towards the upkeep of the sanctuary. You would have thought she would have been going for he maximum rather the minimum. But to some extent the children made up for it by spending their pocket money in the sanctuary shop! 

This morning I read this article about the cost of taking children to places like The Paddington Bear Experience in London, described as “a “unique and fun-filled interactive experience” spanning more than 2,400 sq metres (26,000 sq ft) and including themed rooms, character interactions – and marmalade sandwiches.” £176 for a family of four! You might need a second mortgage just to entertain the children. 

It’s odd how we managed to spend half term holiday, and a good part of the long summer break, playing out with no additional cost!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!