So far today (and it’s not even lunchtime yet) Child Two has missed the school bus and needed driving across town; TL lost his wallet and needed picking up from the station, bringing back home, help finding his wallet and then another lift back to the station, and the water filter man, after saying he’d take two hours to fit a hard water tap, has been here since dawn and just called in reinforcements.
And it’s one of those days in the news, too – goodness knows how many horrible conflicts going on in the world and endless tub-thumping about the ones which the powers-that-be have decided we have an interest in stopping. I was thinking yesterday that it’s all pretty similar to the Crusades in the middle ages. I suspect we’ll have as much success against Isis (or whatever they’re called this week, I’ve heard everything from plain IS to Isle and Islamic State) as we did then against the Infidel. That’s not to say I support any of their evil deeds, I am sure they are very bad people indeed.
And speaking of bad people, there’s the news this morning that one of the internet trolls who has tortured the poor McCanns, parents of missing girl Madeleine, has killed herself after being named and interviewed on Sky news. What are we supposed to think about this? On the one hand, it seems clear the woman was misguided and cruel, to say the least, but she was capable of feeling shame which must, I suppose, have been the reason for her suicide. Do we feel sorry for her? Or should we be glad that there’s one troll fewer out there (but plenty more sheltering under the bridge). It’s confusing.
And I’m still thinking about a TV programme that was on last week, The Paedophile Hunter. It featured a man who sets up online avatars of young boys and girls and waits until someone (inevitably a horrible middle-aged man) starts to try and groom them. He then shops them to the police, and posts the material he’s gleaned on the internet. Is this entrapment? Or is it a worthwhile service, exposing these revolting men for the creeps they are? Even the police are confused. They don’t like what he is doing, but if they had the resources, they’d use the same methods themselves. And the man himself – his quest is so personal, it’s clear he has been damaged himself (or is close to someone who has suffered). It was all so painful that I couldn’t watch more than the first five minutes.
Oh, and the weather’s rubbish too. All in all, the week can only get a LOT better.
