Youngsters these days can be too full of themselves with their phones and their Tick-Tocks and the like. A few of ours – teenagers who loiter around the war memorial – have made it known they are against our being against the government’s plan to house some foreigners in our village hall while their asylum applications are assessed and before they are deported. At Wednesday evening’s meeting of the GASSE (“Go Away! Stay Somewhere Else!”) management committee Nancy Crowe, our Publicity Operations Officer (POO) – she used to edit the village newsletter when we had one – was accompanied by her daughter Naomi, who said she and her friends thought we were being racist and xenophobic, and she rattled on for a bit about love for your fellow human beings and mentioned the European Convention on Human Rights. It was explained to her we are not in Europe anymore now we have taken back our sovereignty, and that we are not against foreigners as such, but they simply cannot be allowed to come here to sleep because we use our village hall all the time. It’s the Scouts’ Jumble Sale tomorrow, and Reg and Irene Farmer’s daughter’s wedding is next weekend, when for reasons I am not clear about they have the hall booked for the entire Bank Holiday, and we also have our regular activities, including my wife’s Oh Yeah! Yoga! class. I have a funny feeling we haven’t heard the last of these youngsters. This afternoon, when I bicycled past the war memorial on my way to the hall to make a routine check on the security situation wearing my ARSE (Advanced Round-the-clock Security Executive) armband I heard a few ribald remarks aimed in my direction, but I will not lower the tone here by repeating them.
Major “Teddy” Thomas has not yet tracked down our Member of Parliament. There was a rumour he had been seen at a gay bar in Lowestoft, but the Major says there is no gay bar in Lowestoft, although The Queen’s Arms has a bit of a reputation. We are still trying to get the East Anglian Daily Times interested in our story. Nancy Crowe (POO) said she has been on the phone to them and demanded they send someone (that’s what she said: demanded!), and this time a proper journalist and not their football reporter, which is what they sent a couple of weeks ago. Nancy said she is confident someone will come, and that the lady she spoke to was very interested, even though she had sounded like she was eating and perhaps not fully concentrating. That seemed like a contradiction to me, but I didn’t say anything. Nancy can be a bit touchy at times. Meanwhile, it looks like we are not likely to see any security fencing this side of Christmas. Bob Merchant says there have been problems with the supply chain ever since Brexit. We had thought he would be hiring some, but he said that buying it would be more economical in the long run. I have my doubts. Bob is a good builder, but I have looked at him in a different light ever since he came to put up our gazebo wearing an Adele T-shirt.
My wife is in Stowmarket this evening with her friend Jan as is usual on a Friday. Last week she decided at the last minute to stay over, and didn’t get back until Saturday afternoon. Call me old-fashioned, but I was a bit upset because we had planned to go to Baylham House Rare Breeds Farm if the weather was nice, which it was, apart from the odd shower. She says she will definitely be home tonight because she plans to go to the Scouts’ Jumble Sale and says you have to get there early or all the good stuff will be gone.
James Henderson