Withalittle slice of luck, we all find our role in life although I’m so nosy mine foundme
Hours after nurses in Scotland have voted to strike for the first time over pay and conditions, I spoke to Julie Lamberth, a Royal College of Nursing union leader.
She told me striking nurses would have the backing of the public as she believes we see the pressure staff are under and appreciate the value of what they do.
It’s going to be a difficult conflict to resolve as the Scottish Government has insisted there is no more money within their already squeezed budget for more pay rises. Politics aside, I think we all realise the importance of the nursing profession and how crucial they are to the care we receive.
Do you remember how we took to our doorsteps and clapped for the NHS staff every week during the pandemic? It was a reminder of how much we rely on them all.
There are a lot of nurses in my family and to them it is a vocation, perfectly suited to their caring natures.
I don’t think my mum could have been anything other than a nurse. She is in her element caring for a sick child.
I think so many of us end up in professions that suit our personalties more than our exam grades. There was only ever going to be one job for me as I’m so incurably nosy. Journalist was top of the list and I’ve never done anything else. What would I be fit for? There was a fascinating story on the radio this week about the possibility of reopening coal mines in Cumbria. A man called Neil Messenger was interviewed about what it would mean for the area.
He’d been a miner until the pits closed down in Whitehaven and he’d gone on to become a firefighter. He always thought of himself as an ex miner though and would come out of retirement in a heartbeat, he said, to go back underground. He said there was nothing like the camaraderie among miners and he’d experienced nothing like it since.
The decision to open a mine in his area is, of course, extremely controversial and that’s why the decision is taking so long to make. But Neil is desperate to get back to work and sees it as an exciting opportunity.
It’s difficult to comprehend how anyone would willingly want to toil four miles underneath the sea but that’s what he feels drawn to do. And he wants his son to join him too, making him the fifth generation of coalminers in their family.
It takes all sorts and I’m glad it does. Take the Filey family in Yorkshire who welcomed 100 cats
into their home during lockdown. Tina, Mark and daughter Kate started adopting local strays and before they knew it they were overrun. They sold their business, their car and even their wedding rings to fund their cat rescue mission, which is now a registered charity.
They have 30 litter trays around the house and 40 cat trees. Five of the rescues are pregnant and they expect to have over 200 feline lodgers by Christmas. And they wouldn’t have it any other way. Talking of people fulfilling their destiny, former President Trump has been making ominous noises this week about the possibility of him attempting to return to the White House in 2024. He was hoping for a red republican wave during the midterm elections, but its turned out to be more of a trickle.
He’s raging and is reportedly blaming everyone, even Melania, his wife.
He’s lashing out at her after she advised him to back TV doctor Mehmet Oz for the senate. Poor Melania. There might be a job opening there soon, but really is that a vacancy anyone would want to fill?