We should learn from the past

Yesterday I mentioned how disgusted I was at the events happening in London. These have unfortunately spread across the country and mindless youths are being sheep like and jumping on the rioting bandwagon.

As I went to bed last night I thought about my dear Dad who would have some wise words to say about the current situation. And I missed being able to give him a call and chat to him. We could always have a good debate and it's such a shame that now I am older and hopefully wiser, I can't sit down with him over a cuppa and listen to him.

A comment Valerie made on my blog yesterday made me think about my Dad. He was brought up in the war and lived in a council flat where community spirit was high. Everyone looked out for each other and more importantly cared for each other. They respected their elders and of course the police.

My Dad worked hard all his life. He always told us that he had to put newspaper in his shoes to fill in the holes, that he had to wear shorts in winter as his family couldn't afford long trousers and that he had to help bring up his brothers and sister.

He studied to be an accountant by way of an apprenticeship and even set up and run a loan club where in those days money was hard. He met my mum and they bought our house and had little furniture...he frequently told us that they sat on a plank of wood across two milk crates as they couldn't afford a sofa. And throughout his life he worked for what he had. We were not rich, but comfortable, and now being older I can see how much he did for us.

Mum worked too from being in service, to a printer and then when my brother and I were little, she worked part time in a greengrocers. When her feet couldn't take it any longer and we were in our teens, she went back to college to study book keeping. Both my parents worked hard to provide for us.

They also disciplined us without fail and this was in the days where a smack was acceptable and you didn't back chat your parents.

As a society we are too weak. We worry about being sued. We can't do this or we can't do that and there is too much political correctness. Jim was telling me that when his 4 and half year old daughter Daisy starts school in September he has been told she is not allowed to help a child up if she falls, but instead get a teacher. And he questioned this, as Daisy is a really caring little girl. How on earth are we to bring up our children to be caring and loving, when those in authority who they are supposed to respect, stop them from being able to care and tell them they cant.

Just what sort of a society are we creating. Oh yes that's right....a society that loots and riots and is violent to those people who work hard, pay their taxes and want to invest in their future.

God help us!