Suddenly it’s Thursday again. Another week rushes towards its close. It’s strange how time works. On Tuesday it still seems that you have almost the whole week ahead of you. Wednesday, which the Germans sensibly call Mittwoch, middle of the week is a sort of high point and then it’s all down hill and before you know it you’re rushing to the weekend.
My alarm rang, I snoozed it. I need to stop doing that and make myself get up that bit earlier and have more of the day. But I will keep,on snoozing the alarm. Today, as I waited for it to remind me to get out of bed, my phone rang. Nobody makes a social call at 8 o’ clock in the morning so what kind of emergency was it this time? It was Granddaughter Number One, calling to tell me her bathroom had just exploded! Her words! Some pipe had perished and, instead of sending water to the shower head, was now spraying hot water around the bathroom. She needed an emergency plumber - no, I am not a plumber - but she had no spare money for such an emergency so please could the bank of Grandma help out?
Before she called me she had called her father to ask for help locating the tap to turn off the water supply to the house! And I imagined myself in the same situation. It took me a while to remember where our mains supply tap is. It’s time I reacquainted myself with all those things that you only think about in an emergency. Then I need to make a list, a written list to stick up somewhere to remind us what to do in the event of a household emergency. How on earth do people manage when their house is flooded?
At least she has people she can turn to in an emergency. This article tells of the plight of families in parts of Afghanistan, one family living in a mud hut with a plastic roof, having been forced to leave a better home because of drought. The mother of the family tells how she has sold her two daughters (a common practice apparently, where girls are ‘sold’ into a future marriage even though they still love at home until puberty,’ then they are sent away to marry a stranger) in order to pay medical bills. She has also sold a kidney. This is how some people are living (no, surviving!) in the 21st century.
Closer to home, in central Manchester, the tents used by homeless people who h ai have mentioned in previous posts is to be removed.
“A camp of tents being used by homeless people in a city centre must be removed after a council won a crucial court ruling.
Manchester City Council has secured a "possession order" against people living in tents in St Peter's Square next to the town hall, effectively evicting them.
The "red tent camp" sprang up last spring, initially as a protest, but soon morphed into a long-term spot for homeless people to stay.
A legal challenge from the Greater Manchester Law Centre to stop the council's bid to take possession of the land failed on Tuesday.
The council welcomed the ruling but did not confirm when the tents would be removed.”
21st century living!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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