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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Homophobia 

Last night, there was a story in the free newspapers of a man who had had such a severe beating in Trafalgar Square a few weeks ago that he recently died. His attackers consisted of two blonde girls and a black man. Before the trio attacked the man they had shouted homophobic insults at him.

In short, two girls helped beat a man to death because he was gay.

Several months ago, another gay man was stabbed to death on his own doorstep in Bromley and his partner placed in intensive care. This attack has been attributed to homophobia as well.

My immediate reaction when hearing these stories is, strangely, to wonder why someone would do that. Why attack someone? Why kill someone purely because of his sexuality?

I can almost understand it if the attacks were made by straight men who had been propositioned by nasty predatory gay men.

Almost.

However, I really cannot understand why two women would do this. What possible reason could there be?

The usual tribal reason given in these circumstances is “because he was different.”

This is the reason that people tender for violence against someone who supports another football team or has skin that is a different colour or who speaks another language or who belong to another religion or are old or … any one of a million differences. Apparently this is enough reason to hurt or even kill someone else.

It’s a pity no-one uses it as a reason for attacking someone who actually thinks those sort of things actually matter.

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Over my shoulder 

This morning I had planned to blog about a homophobic murder* so I sat on one of the few seats on the train that give me enough room to use my laptop. They are fold-up seats near the rear driver’s cab that are intended for people with wheelchairs or bicycles and are a bit more widely spaced than normal seats. They are perfect for someone of my height and build, especially when I want to use my laptop.

I had hardly got the laptop turned on before someone got on and sat in the same bank of seats but one further along. That normally would have been fine but he sat turned to one side and was facing me, or more importantly, facing my laptop.

I tried to carry on with the blog but I had to give up. I can’t blog with an audience.

* this will follow later

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Friday, October 09, 2009

Today’s crap calendar message 

My page-a-day calendar on my desk is, as I have mentioned before, crap. Today, as it is Friday, the calendar has dispensed this piece of advice:

if you hang up clothes taken out of the dryer when they are slightly damp you reduce the need for ironing and save energy

What? If it’s possible for you to hang the clothes up in the first place, why use a tumble drier at all? OK, it takes longer in the winter months to dry your clothes.

If it isn’t possible for you to hang up your clothes this advice is bloody stupid anyway.

I expect next Friday to see:

if you get your chauffeur to park near to the exit of the car park then you’ll save fuel

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Monday, October 05, 2009

Robert Williams is unwell 

I am currently suffering from my first proper cold of the year. It is not swine flu or, I doubt, any other type of flu. I am still able to get up (although I don’t want to) and I am not wracked with pain.

My head, however, does feel it’s too small and occasionally too hot and during the night I had apparently swapped my normal sized bladder for one belonging to an ant. My nose alternates between normality, dripping like a tap and exploding. My lungs are similar and cycle between quiet, rasping and loud hacking cough.

Oddly, when I was a kid, I used to enjoy being ill. I would get to stay in bed and my Mum made a fuss and gave me Lucozade. My Dad would have to carry the television up the stairs for me. We only had the one and in those days they were huge, ungainly and extremely heavy. Only posh kids had televisions in their own bedrooms.

Now, if I have to stay in bed, I can read, surf the web or watch a DVD on my laptop but despite all this choice, I am bored out of my brain. I’m not sure if I will be well enough to go to work tomorrow either.

And I have no Lucozade.

I have dark chocolate Mars bars but that’s another story.

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