Genteel protest

In the not-too-distant past (eg pre-Covid) I've been on big marches - through the heart of Edinburgh for Scottish Independence, through Glasgow for that and (still) against nuclear weapons, ditto against the war in Iraq. There were police, banners, noise - and sometimes rain. Even longer ago, in the 1980s, I was on many marches, in many protests, on vigils and at peace camps. Some of them were quite lively. 

The last time I saw my Westminster MP, Brendan O'Hara, was at the Edinburgh march. Today I saw him again, addressing a protest gathering, but there the resemblance ends. This has to be one of the most genteel protesting group I've ever joined with, as a small crowd gathered outside our local Bank of Scotland branch to hand in a petition against its imminent closure (next Tuesday). Our MP informed us that BoS made 2 million pounds' profit in two months this year - I share this just because it's interesting, in light of this cost-saving exercise.

The collage shows various moments - the first photo reminds us of how meek this wee crowd was in that the people spilling off the pavement allowed themselves to be herded back by cars parking more or less on top of them. (They wouldn't let me stay on the road, contrary to all my instincts). The other bigger photo shows us all crowding into the branch to deliver the petition and its accompanying letter; the others show MP, the organiser,  and a councillor addressing the crowd. A close look will show you that just about everyone there is one of those who most need a local branch - old, infirm, not internet-savvy.... And our nearest branch is "only 8 miles away" - but requires a ferry ride followed by a bus to get to it. 

Rant over.

For the rest of this frosty day I walked up to the Post Office to post a birthday present - met several people I knew in the queue - and came home to assemble one of our Advent Calendars, a task filled with cardboard engineering, the careful fixing of tiny lights, the positioning of base plates and 24 little buildings ... In the end it took the two of us at least an hour and three attempts to complete it, so I've given it an extra all of its own. We recuperated with a couple of interesting teas from another Advent calendar and a chocolate from the other two (one each).

Our children spoil us ...