Call police? No one is on the end of the line
STORIES about crimes in the M.E.N. often end with ‘ if you have any information call police on 101.’
Let me tell you of a recent experience.
On Friday, June 29, I was picking my grandson up from school in Bolton.
I noticed a young lad ride past the school on an off-road bike. I later saw him and a friend drinking beer at a local pub and taking turns in the bike.
This was not an emergency and so I had to call 101.
I waited for one hour and nobody from GMP answered.
A recorded message said that I could call the local police which I did on another phone.
I got another message that they were out on patrol and I should call 101. I left a message.
I was still waiting for an answer on the first phone.
I received a message three days later from the local police saying I should call 101. I have two points to make. How can we rely on the statistics for reported crime when you can’t get through to report it?
How could I have prevented these boys from possibly causing an horrific accident when I have no police back up?
There has to be another way of contacting the police in these circumstances.
Can anyone help? Peter Wrigley
We are just like America
IT’S not surprising that Americanstyle taxis are being considered for Manchester
(Could cab shake-up mean big yellow taxis?, M.E.N., July 10).
Everyone talks Americanisms anyway. Nobody has problems, the new word is ‘issues.’ Nothing happens, it occurs. It’s all ‘hi guys.’ We don’t own a house anymore, it’s called a property.
Even the hospitals are ‘community hospitals.’
Get ready guys for all private hospital treatment, as in America .
You’ve been warned. Please, please – start speaking English again. Name and address supplied
Disappointed with pictures
AS a transgender woman, who attended the Sparkle celebrations at the weekend in Manchester, I was disappointed to see the coverage from the event in the Manchester Evening News.
While I appreciate that the photos have been chosen for their colour and ‘newsworthiness,’ it appears to me that the focus has been placed on fetish and drag – what someone wearing a dog lead has to do with being transgender is beyond me – rather than those of us who spend each day battling for acceptance just because we do not feel at one with the gender into which we were assigned at birth.
As a counsellor specialising in working with trans and gender variant patients, I can assure you that your photo gallery is not representative of those people for whom the event was conceived.
Sparkle is a stake in the ground, an opportunity for the trans community to come together and celebrate, without fear. As long as the media continues to perpetuate the stereotype that we are something to be ridiculed or worse, feared, we will never be accepted. Marianne Oakes, lead counsellor, GenderGP
Does anyone know James?
I AM looking for James Raymond Evans and family.
I believe he worked in the Prestwich area in the 1940s as a roof slater and he was a friend to the Hannah family.
If anyone has any information on him or his family please get in touch with me. Lynne Nugent E-mail: lynne_nugent00 @yahoo. co.uk Tel: 07881 407 860