Monday 19 January 2009

Fabulous Fashion



Aren`t these lads great, there they were, standing outside Curry`s on Saturday. This will definitely be a one for the archive, pity I didn`t get their names, but I could hardly miss them if they were in town again.

Further down the street outside the police station, a protest against Israel`s bombing of Gaza, a crowd had gathered across the road and the police were moving onlookers who looked as if they were about to start trouble.Many people stopped to sign the against petition, myself included. A harrowing photo appeared today in the Telegraph, showing a child`s hand and cuff of a red jumper among clumps of rubble. It reminded me of the girl in the red coat on the Schindler`s List film.

We should think ourselves fortunate in this country to be able to think about what we will be wearing today, whether to dress up warmly or fashionably, to be able to go choosing new clothes while others are hiding for weeks without food, only venturing out because of a paltry one week ceasfire, and after that, what then? But half of me thinks that we should celebrate everything we have for now as it may be our turn next. But most of us are guilty of getting on with our own interests and lives without much thought to what is going on in the rest of the world. Brought to mind a poem I read at school about the menace of war by W.H. Auden, "O What is That Sound." Describes how people naively wait until it`s at the door before we do anything about it. It`s sobering to think that just before the second world war, that there were young lads,going about their own business, just like the two pictured, that were soon to be drafted into the army, hope that it never happens, hope that Obama can make a difference.

2 comments:

Brit-Chick Writing Brit-Flick said...

Should we focus on small pleasures or worry about the bigger picture -abit of both maybe? Enjoyed your post x

Yvonne Young said...

Yeah, I think you`re right. Just been to see an old boss of mine, she`s in her eighties now and in the stages of dementia. I took a book for her, she shifted it around from place to place, asking me each time where it had come from, she remembers very little about her life, guess we have to live ours and appreciate what we have more? x