Last night whilst Meg was fortunately asleep in her bed, together with many other millions of viewers I tuned in to the Olympics broadcast to follow the progress of Adam Peaty who has gained gold for two successive Olympics and is now in a quest for a third gold medal. I was fearful about this young man’s prospects as there had been an enormous amount of pre-match buildup with emotional interviews with his family members and the like which could only have added to the pressure he was already under to perform. When the final did take place, he was beaten by an Italian who came from seemingly nowhere by 0.02 second which is about the equivalent of a fingernail. Peaty himself seemed philosophical about his silver medal under the circumstances but one wonders whether to be beaten by so narrow a margin will prey on one’s mind for evermore. One theme is emerging from the Olympics on this occasion and it is the mental health of the elite athletes. The issue has been highlighted this year by the return to the Olympic arena of Simone Biles regarded as one of the most superb gymnasts the world has ever seen. Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, is back for her third Games after withdrawing from most of her events at the Tokyo Games in 2021 with mental health issues. Apparently Peaty had his battles also and it seems to be that once has achieved the pinnacle, it puts the most intolerable pressure upon athletes to stay at the top. I think this issue is being taking more seriously in the sporting world but in the case of Olympic athletes and even more so in the case of the gymnasts the pressures put upon their young charges can be immense and sometimes goes ‘over the line’ It was said that the outstanding Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comenci was slapped and starved (and worse) by her own coach which story only came to light well after the event and Comenci fled to the USA from her native Romania.
This morning, being a Monday and with no particular routine in mind, I decided that we should try something a little different. Since Meg cannot go anywhere in our car, her journeys out have been confined to Waitrose on the one hand and the park on the other. Today, I thought it would be a good idea to access the High Street in Bromsgrove and to do this I wheeled Meg along a road which leads to a large cemetery attached to St. Johns which sits atop a little hillside and overlooks the town. A footpath used by lots of the local residents (including myself almost every day in the not so distant past) cuts across the cemetery and I know that the principal path needed to be accessed via two large steps which made this route inaccessible to Meg in her wheelchair. But there was another curving path which had no steps to negotiate but was incredibly steep for a short distance. Nonetheless we braved this and evidently once atop the hilltop, the journey down into the actual town was quite easy. We popped into the local AgeUk furniture store which also sells other charity items and acquired five cushion covers of which two are an antique gold design, one a tiled design, one a design with a heart motif and the final one decorated by some elephants motif. On the High Street, I knew that the local Greggs had been extended but I did not particularly want to patronise them. There is another newly opened coffee bar of which I have received good reports but I actually diverted down into a little square off the High Street and popped into a folksy little cafe called ‘The Lemon Tree’ This cafe has actually been there for several years now but the two new owners told us that they had only taken it over three weeks ago and had given it a ‘refurb’ Their menu was not just coffees but light lunches as well which might prove an attraction for us. When we got there, we were only the patrons of the cafe and we ordered a toasted teacake (dripping with butter) and a pot of tea served in some beautiful little china cups for which we were only charged £5.00. We chatted with the sisters running the establishment, both of Italian extraction, and started talking about some Italian cities that we had visited. All in all we had the most delightful little sojourn and chat and I am wondering whether to introduce our University of Birmingham friend to it when we coffee with him next Friday morning. So we have determined to make this into a regular little Monday morning ‘slot’ in our weekly timetable because it means that with a walk along the High Street we can occasionally dive into stores to buy toiletries and the like.
It was a beautiful and indeed hot afternoon. I thought I would seize the opportunity to get the front lawned area cut and although this was a real dash, I had in mind to get it all done (which I did) so that I could sit down and listen to the Rachel Reeves announcement of how the £22 billion black hole she reckons has been left by the outgoing Tory government can be filled. But when we turned on the TV in time for the announcement in the Commons at 3.00pm, the news was dominated by an horrific mass stabbings in Southport so I wonder whether this delayed the Commons announcement. Anyway, we will catch up with all of the relevant details which no doubt will be analysed to death in the days ahead. The pay rise for public sector staff of 5.5% looks as though it is going to be accepted in full following the recommendations of the independent Pay Review bodies. No one seems to be making the point, though, that this pay increase for many public sector workers only serves to reduce a little the impact of the pay cuts that have been inflicted upon public sector workers in the past ten years or more under the regime of ‘Austerity’ by the outgoing Tory administration. When pay is squeezed for year upon year like this, a point always comes at which that in order to attract and retain staff and to remain competitive with the private sector, a period of ‘catching up’ becomes almost inevitable.
© Mike Hart [2024]