Friday 26 February 2010

A Snapshot of Britain Today

Readers of other British Catholic blogs will have gathered that our country is a strange and - in some major respects - a malign place these days.

I can add nothing to the reports of the latest legislative measures of the present government. Other bloggers have analysed and responded to the blows far better than I could. And, it appears, very much better than our Bishops could.

I would like to share what may seem at first sight a more trivial thing. But it was not at all trivial to the victims. And there is something about the mentality that the story illustrates…

From The Gloucestershire Echo, 26th February 2010, previewing a show by the stand-up comedian Tom Wrigglesworth. The following experience really happened to him:

“[His] train journey from hell wasn’t funny at the time … … Tom was just a passenger minding his own business when he overheard a train guard ordering a pensioner to pay £115 for a new ticket to London. He was so shocked he organised a whip-round only to be met by transport police officers at the station, who he had been reported to for begging.”

2 comments:

breadgirl said...

Hello Dorothy

God help us. We are living in sad times but, there is hope as long as there are good people around. And there are still plenty of good people - I have been amazed at the goodness I have come across since I started blogging a few months ago. There are so many wonderful people of all denominations out there trying to spread God's word and love through their blogs. Thanks for an informative post. God bless you

Oh, I nearly forgot why I dropped in today! I just wanted to wish you a VERY HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY.

Dorothy B said...

Picking up your good wishes a day late, Breadgirl, but thank you, and I hope you had a happy feast-day.

God help us, indeed.

Interestingly, the young chap who went through the unpleasant experience on his journey turned it to good. He set up a pressure group to persuade the train operators to offer passengers in this situation the chance to buy a much less expensive ticket. He has already been successful with one company. This may seem to some readers like a rather secular matter for a Catholic blog, but I think it's a case of justice - which in its essence is an indivisible spiritual thing - flowing out into life in general.

By the way, I quoted the Glos Echo item verbatim because it was a lovely example of the local patterns of speech being conveyed exactly in the written word. I could just hear it, as though overheard on the bus!

Best regards,
Dorothy.