Yesterday, a phone appeal from a very nice lady made me drop one of my characters rather unceremoniously in mid-sentence. Camera in hand, I snapped photos of the massive outcry against the privatization of postal services, presently being planned by people for whom I never voted, so why should they care what I think of them and their schemes. I give you above a shot of the people – their anger, their wrath, the swelling forces of social discontent on the march, as it were. For obvious reasons, I decided even close cropping couldn’t save this (or other similar shots). On the community blog, I went with a photo of a lone woman standing in front of a closed post office.
C’est la vie, mes amis. Will go with an early community blog post this morning. Then, considering I did three community services yesterday, I declare my good deeds covered for both today and tomorrow, and repair to the land of dreams, nightmares, lost souls insisting on finding a decent angle on an indecent world and – occasionally – having a goofy, happy time with no questions asked and nobody’s special requests to honor. Tchüss for now.
***
19:50 Just discovered this poet through this poem. I can’t begin to imagine myself spending eight years studying zen practice anywhere. But I can certainly relate to the notion that ”poetry is based on a thoroughly lived life.” Same holds true for any writing, yes?
And now, the day is done.
Best to all.
Good Morning! R.L.Bourges,
The Photograph: I like to think of key words after viewing your photographs and these words come to mind…“Outrage,” gathering, and discussion, and rainy day. (What beautiful quaint houses/buildings (with their long windows) in the background too.)
R.L.Bourges said, “Camera in hand, I snapped photos of the massive outcry against the privatization of postal services, presently being planned by people for whom I never voted, so why should they care what I think of them and their schemes.”
Please excuse my “denseness,” but what will occur if the postal services goes private?
The “public” must pay…now back to your writing.
Take care!
DeeDee ;-D
DeeDee: boy. Even the short version requires some context, so grab your coffee and your croissant first:
The French PTT (postes, télégraphe, téléphone) system used to be a state-run service – with all the glitches one can imagine to any state-run thingie. Still and all, it worked. European Union laws have required the dismantling of most state run services that prove ‘detrimental’ to free trade (translation: may take some business away from profit-generating private services.)
The telephone service has now been re-organized into a series of (inefficient for the users but) profitable operations. Privatization of the postal service will undoubtedly lead to the same proliferation of costly inefficiencies for the users – and revenue generating call-services for the companies.
Moreover, these measures come as roll-outs on the Minister of Economy’s recent announcements of further tax breaks for companies (among which the lowering of ’social costs’ i.e. employee benefits) and further cuts in jobs both in schools and other social services. The basic fact of the matter is that the economy and the financial sector no longer have any real relationship the one to the other. But somebody has to pay for the banks’ record profits raked in thanks to taxpayers’ money, yes?
Oh, a final detail for the French context: the main telephone supplier, France Télécom, is experiencing a wave of suicides among its workers (working conditions, hours and wages are something I don’t have time to develop for you here, but I think you can use your imagination.)
Have another coffee and croissant on me, DeeDee :-)
cheers