by
Frank Hatton

Often has it been said that we British are most peculiar souls, and probably, among the first to agree with this statement are the British themselves. As those of you who have been reading my scribblings since the early days will remember, I once stated that my mental confusion with the intricacies of politics and governmental decisions, were quite often eased after a conversation with either my barber, or a taxi cab driver. These good folk seem to have a natural ability to unravel the most complicated of issues to a degree, that even I could see where my sense of logic was going awry, and thereafter, I was able to understand just what should be done by the government to put the situation right. Such is the power of comprehension of both the barber and the cab driver, that I have suggested an elected band of these intellectual genies (or genii) would eliminate all our problems of political decision making in one fell swoop, and thereafter we could all live in total peace and contentment. Soooo, would you now believe that we have a Labour-controlled Council in Redditch, in the County of Worcestershire, which has asked all of the cab drivers in their district to sign a ‘code of conduct’ which will ban them from conversations with passengers on any subject about, sex, politics, or religion. Now, to my simple mind, not only does this represent the thin end of the wedge, into what will ultimately become, a national intrusion of our society, it also takes from us our only lifeline of sanity in a world which quite often appears to be going barmy. When the aforementioned Redditch Council were questioned on their reasons for this outlandish behaviour, they could only offer the following explanation. “We have produced this code of conduct to establish guidelines. We have not had any complaints specifically about sex, politics, or religious conversations, but, feel these are topics which could lead to confrontations with passengers.” I will write no more on this subject, as my flabber is well and truly gasted. In an effort to counteract this stupidity, May I now tell you about a more pleasant aspect of our local community life. Last Sunday, (and may I remind you once again that these articles are written some four to six weeks prior to your reading them), my wife and I had a telephone call from my daughter and her husband, asking if we were going downtown to watch the local annual Christmas parade. Hence we agreed to meet up in town, and as the weather was quite cold, we wrapped ourselves in warm clothing. The parade started around 5.00 p.m., and consisted of cars, trucks, and other floats made up by the local charity organisations, with various young peoples marching bands, the boy scouts, the girl guides, the local fire brigade, the police,.... in fact every aspect of our population was represented in some way or other. However, the main factor that impressed us was the way that the good folk taking part, had ignored the very cold weather, and had donned various fancy dress costumes to dance and sing their way along the High Street. They must have been half frozen, but, they were determined not to show it, and other helpers went along the edge of the watching crowd to gather money on behalf of the different charities involved. From what I saw of this aspect, they collected a goodly sum, and must have been well satisfied with the end result. My main observation being, that these unselfish deeds by the good souls who are our friends and neighbours, more than make up for the nasty bits and pieces that go on in the world. The point being my friends, that no matter how many nasties we may have to bear, or face in this everyday world in which we live, we are blessed with this ‘fall back’ situation, of a rock base of solid citizens who will always emerge, shining and smiling, determined to do their level best to help their fellow man/woman. Now, I don’t know just how much you may hear or read over on your side about the situation in Northern Ireland, but, this has been a very sad story for many, many years. The I.R.A. (Irish Republican Army), has been fighting a particularly nasty war against the British rule in the northern part of Ireland, with the ultimate aim of getting the withdrawal, firstly of the British military, and then the reunification of Southern and Northern Ireland. Because of an historic wish by the majority of folk who live in Northern Ireland, to remain under British rule, there seemed to be no solution to stop the bombing and killing of soldiers, policemen, and civilians. Again, historically, the population is split into Catholics and Protestants, so there is also a religious divide between the two factions. However, without getting into any discussions on the rights and wrongs of the problem, it is truly wonderful to see how these two opposing sections of the community have by way of compromise and talks, almost reached the point of forming an acceptable form of government, and are at the stage of turning in their arms for destruction. For any of you good folk who are knowledgeable about this situation, I ask your forgiveness in over simplifying these facts, but, my aim was to illustrate how what may seem to be insurmountable problems, may be overcome, with sufficient give and take. May I take this opportunity to thank each of you who have taken the time and trouble to write to me regarding my monthly scribblings, it truly is good to know that folk do read them, and find them of sufficient interest to comment on them. In fact one good soul who resides in Detroit, has written to say that he has the same name as myself, which he finds particularly satisfying, as the only three other ‘Hattons’ he knows are his father, grand-father, and an aunt. Sleep easy brother Frank Hatton in Detroit, you are no longer alone!!! Soooo, other than to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year in 2000, I will now close, 'til next time, Frank Hatton

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You can find more articles in the archive under From Over the Pond