Help them and spend locally
THIS week we heard the devastating news that Castell Howell is considering making job losses, which is a massive blow.
Unfortunately, I fear this is a sign of things to come - our local businesses have been amongst the hardest hit by coronavirus with months of closure and now the prospects of a deep recession ahead. I sincerely hope that this stalwart local company can ride this storm and come out the other side - I am sorry for their staff who are facing the most difficult time.
As a local authority, we have been pleased to partner Castell Howell in creating a click and collect service for our communities at the very beginning of lockdown restrictions, and have worked with them since to provide food parcels for people shielding and families in receipt of free school meals.
Sadly it appears that their trade has suffered by some 65 per cent due to the closure of their core trade – restaurants, cafes and pubs both in Wales and further afield.
With restrictions now beginning to ease and more shops opening, and the prospect of more changes in coming weeks, there is a little hope on the horizon for local businesses.
The stark reality is that many businesses are going to find it incredibly hard to get back on their feet, so the least we can do to help them is to spend locally and help keep the ‘Carmarthenshire pound’ going – spending locally will go some way to help some businesses re-establish.
SEVERAL old TV sitcoms and sketch shows have suddenly been removed – some permanently, some temporarily - from various streaming platforms due to complaints they are ‘racist’.
The list includes, unbelievably, “Gavin and Stacey” - which features a character named ‘Chinese Alan’.
Does anyone really believe James Corden and Ruth Jones would risk giving offence by writing racial slurs into their scripts?
If the people who rushed to complain had bothered to check, they’d learn that the character isn’t Chinese. He just loves Chinese food.
But fact-checking doesn’t fit in with their “We can’t allow this!” agenda.
Also, Fawlty Towers, once considered suitable for family viewing, had to sit on the naughty step for a while, to think seriously about its ‘bad behaviour’.
After managing not to cause offence for 45 years, The Germans episode was suddenly declared ‘unacceptable’ by a small number of people with enough influence to have it banned from certain streaming services – although, thankfully, some reversed their decision after a few days.
Anyone with even a smidgen of intelligence who’s seen it knows the joke throughout the episode isn’t on the German guests – it’s on Basil, who, after a stuffed moose head drops on his bonce, suffers concussion and becomes a manic, insultspouting figure of fun.
John Cleese and Connie Booth’s script doesn’t attempt to squeeze cheap laughs out of the Germans, who come across as likeable people.
In the same episode, Major “Papers arrived, Fawlty?” Gowen makes what’s now considered a racist comment. John Cleese points out “The joke was the Major’s, an old fossil left over from decades before.
“We weren’t supporting his views; we were making fun of them!” – which went way over the heads of those who’ve managed to consign Little Britain, The Mighty Boosh and other TV comedies to the dustbin of TV history because they didn’t find them funny.
There’s plenty of TV comedy I don’t find funny, but instead of shouting “Ban it!”, I just don’t watch it.
Unfortunately, I get the feeling this is only the beginning. What’s next?
Put on your gear, folks.
We’re headed down a pery slope… wet weather slip
WHEN you think about it, my chances of survival during this time has been largely dependent on the common sense of others. Let me explain . . .
“The R rate in Wales is lower than in England so we should open everything up asap.”
Ok, have people considered why it might be that the R number is lower around here? No. Thought not.
Yes, it’s been far too long since many of us overpaid for coffee and as the weeks go on I do miss paying £15 for a large popcorn and Diet Coke at the cinema, but in the grand scale of things it’s not important.
Slowing things down for just a few more weeks could make a huge difference.
To be honest, I’m not sure I want to go back to the way we were. What about you?
I’m sure lots of things have changed for you since lockdown.
I know I haven’t missed the driving and fighting with lots of traffic, but we do seem to be getting back to a bit of “normality” don’t you think?
I’d love to hear how life has changed for you, what have you not missed and what are you looking forward to?
Let me know!
You can follow Phil Evans on Twitter @philevanswales or visit www.philevans.co.uk