Saturday, 23 July 2016

On parents and kids and why I'm staying here today

23 July

Oh the choices we have; like today, I can get ready and go off down town for a look around the larger Saturday market for a couple of hours, or I can remain here at home and get some writing done. Each choice has its pro and cons of course, so which one will out I wonder. Out of the two it’s the writing that appeals most. Half term kicked off yesterday and while I was in town the number of kids about was huge.

Today being a market day and there will be loads of kiddy stuff on as well, I really don’t fancy getting caught up in it all. Years ago it was acceptable for a single man to point a camera at kids having fun in the street, now it could well be dangerous because of parental fears of how those photos will be used. And not just that, there’s a growing number of adults who are objecting to being included in photos. I’ve only been challenged once while shooting candids in the Bullring in Brum. My fault though, I know it’s privately owned and need permission to shoot in there, but I forgot one time when I was presented with so many colourfully dressed people about. The security manager came down and spoke to me and everything was OK after that; I didn’t take any more photos in there that day.

Back to the kids then; There is a tendency these days for parents to leave their kids alone and not discipline them when the need it, and not talking about giving them a clip up ear either! There was an incident in the papers the other day where the owner of a café told off a child who was being disruptive because her parents were ignoring her. That stopped when the café owner spoke to the child, but it was the owner who got all the attention because of their anger at her having the nerve to do their jobs for them.

The other day we drove pasted a pub called The New Inn, in Bulkington. We’ve been in there a couple of times but didn’t really like it, anyway, it’s closed and shuttered now so we can’t go back again. The last time we were in there, there was a large family sat having a meal around three tables that they had pulled together. On the one table the only person sat there was a young girl, maybe 18 months to two years? She was sat there on her own whit everyone else of the party ignored her. She had a plastic cup that she was nagging on the table and shouting loudly.

All that child needed was some attention, she would have been fine if they had kept close to them. We didn’t stay there long folks; I was getting more and more angry about it and these days I can’t afford to let my BP get too high, so we left our drinks and went somewhere else. That is the sort of thing that I really do get angry over with how parents deal with the kids. Ah but point a lens towards them and they are quick to jump then to defend them. That’s why I shall be sitting here today and get some writing done.

Jan’s gerbils died the other day, more or less at the same time. OK, they were just two little fully balls of white fur, but they were rather cute and rather friendly. Kile loved them too. Jan called our local pet shop and asked if they had any idea what might have caused it only to find out that she was the fifth person to call about the same thing that day. Basically, the heat got to them. They will be replaced but not straight away, I’m hoping she will wait until this heat has left us. At least the fish and Maxi are not affected by it.

Today’s photo then …

I got this one while sat waiting for my blood test the other week. It’s the plastic ceiling on the out-patient’s clinic roof. I like it really; it’s the way that it shows straight lines but in a way to produce an abstract design; rather clever methinks.
Today’s funny then …

What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?
Pumpkin pi.
           

No comments:

Post a Comment