Thursday, 12 December 2024

Nostalgia on Facebook. Doing the right thing. Women’s rights.

 Forget about instagram and reels and other such social media stuff, I’m still on Facebook, where I find myself having interesting conversations with complete strangers. This morning for instance the estimable Michael Rosen posted this:


Every time I clean my teeth

I have to decide whether to 

wash my mouth out 

by bending down to the tap

or by filling a cup.

Every time I do this

I hear Miss Stafford

a particularly fervent  teller

of the Bible stories

telling the whole school

about Gideon

who chose who would accompany him

on his next military expedition

on the basis 

of which men bent down to the river

to drink

and which men 

cupped their hands

dipped them into the water

and brought their hands up to their mouths.

Miss Stafford looked at us fiercely and said

Which men did Gideon take?

We didn't know.

She said it was the men who cupped their hands.

I sat there horrified (I was 6 years old)

panicking that I would have been a bender

not a cupper.

Gideon would have left me behind. 

There are two strange things about this story.

The first is that 

this story comes to me

in the bathroom 

72 years later.

The other is that I got this bit of 

Jewish lore (and many other bits)

from a fervent protestant.

And I haven't even begun to tell you

about the multi-coloured chalks

on the blackboard

that she used to tell us about Joseph.


This led to an exchange of comments from a host of people, such as this one:


We'd all gone up to London to watch 'Kes' and the next day, our supply teacher, a carbon-copy Mary Whitehouse, explained how we could discern that Billy was from a deprived and 'disreputable' home and asked us what other clues the film had given us. A few half-hearted offerings were made, but she was getting increasingly agitated that we hadn't hit on what she perceived to be the real giveaway. 

It was that a milk bottle had been taken from the fridge to the breakfast table, and had not been decanted into a jug before refrigerating. The most shameful thing she could think of! I tried to point out that most of us washed the bottles first, but she was apoplectic 🤣😂 Oh 'ow the other 'alf live!

Jackie John


Which is turn led to this:


Jackie John This made me laugh. Similarly, when I was training for early years, our safeguarding session on 'signs of neglect' began with our tutor asking us for tell-tale signs we might see in children. She also became increasingly disturbed when we did not give the wanted answer. She finally revealed that the crucial sign was ironed clothes. Children without ironed clothes were neglected. I remember silence in the room. She was in front of a group of mothers juggling children, jobs and training - and probably not doing much ironing. Worlds collided a bit at that point.


I was reminded, and commented on, the neighbour from my childhood who used to say, with a sniff, that certain people were “common” because they put the milk bottle on the table. No comment on it being “common” to look through people’s windows to spy on their lives. She couldn’t see whether we put the milk bottle on the breakfast table (we probably did) because from the street she could only look into our “front room”, the room we kept for “best”, for visitors, for special occasions and where we put the Christmas tree with its proper candles! The candles were lit by my father and carefully supervised.


We went on to discuss whether we even had fridges in which to put the milk, whether in jugs or bottles. A positive nostalgia-fest of 1950s and 60s childhood.


Most of us knew our bible stories, from primary school and from Sunday School. It’s important to know those bible stories, I think. They are part of our heritage and help us understand much of what we find in works in literature. Our grandchildren seem to be learning those bible stories too. Eight year old Granddaughter Number Four told me all about David and Goliath recently.


Somebody commented on the way the Jewish diaspora and the spread of Islam have carried those stories, that heritage all around the world, something to be remembered by those who spread intolerance in the modern world.


On the subject of intolerance and the right to protest, here’s a report I have had from several sources:-


Activist arrested after going on hunger strike in protest of UK support for Israel

Lizzie Greenwood, a Manchester activist and former Workers’ Party candidate, has been arrested by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as she recovers from a 35-day hunger strike protesting the UK government’s funding and arming of Israel.

The arrest follows a reported forced entry into a prior residence and harassment of her father at his home.

According to a post on Instagram, GMP also detained five other activists in recent days, who were later released without charge. Despite the absence of evidence, those arrested have had personal belongings, including phones and vehicles, confiscated indefinitely, and face restrictive police curfews.


Activists of Central Manchester for Palestine said these measures are part of an escalating campaign to intimidate and isolate supporters of Palestinian rights.

Greenwood, who began her hunger strike on 27 October and ended it after 35 days, described the protest as a moral obligation. In a previous video posted to her social media, she stated: “This is a cause that I feel willing and obligated to die for.”


And here’s an article about the position, the condition of women in Iran.


News reports from Syria show a lot of men but few women. So here’s a link to article about women in Syria. 


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

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