Diversion Ahead Ross

Ah, America, what a curious blend of curiosity you are.  In a land where anything older than 50 years is ancient, where motorists are told to 'yield' rather than to 'give way' and where any family with less than one car per adult is strange, it was no surprise to see road signs intended for just one person - Ross.  'Diversion Ahead Ross', declared one; 'Ross Pharmacy'; methinks this one was missing an apostrophe; I even saw a bus which said, simply, 'Ross'.

There's a guy here called Jay Walking; he's illegal.

My sister had critical work to do today - looking at washing machines.  My parents went to the house which we have all  moved out of, to clean it.  I took the opportunity to flee to the big smoke - hello, San Francisco.
I jumped aboard the commuter ferry - it's normal here to commute by ferry, across the bay.  I was going to say here that it definitely beats the Northern Line, but I avoid the Northern Line as often as possible, so that doesn't make sense (although, as the legendary comedian Rob Hitchmough taught me - don't let the truth get in the way).

I had been told that there was a lot of poverty in San Francisco.  Just to put this in context, I have travelled all over the world in the last fifteen or so years, visiting around sixty countries for all sorts of purposes - teaching, studying, attending Guiding events, conferences, volunteering on various community projects, travelling to places of religious significance (hence the theology / development degrees etc.), but I was staggered by the number of street people in San Francisco.  Every few yards in Market Street, one of the main streets there, is someone wheeling a shopping trolley overflowing with their grubby belongings; an old lady with ailing teeth reaching into a bin and eating whatever scraps she pulled out; war veterans with dreadful injuries sitting in ramshackle wheelchairs, looking listlessly into the distance.  A man sat, with a fraying paper cup beside him, and a sign which said 'Homeless. Ill with HIV. Anything helps. God bless you'.

This poverty does not discriminate - I saw people of every creed and colour; men, women, even children.
Many just sit, or lie.  Some were quite threatening - the dreadlocked man shrieking obscenities at passers-by; the young man wheeling a huge trolley, issuing death threats to anyone who happened to glance in his direction.  People come up to you in the streets, begging - 'just a quarter mam?' This wasn't in a backstreet, this was on one of the main streets.  There is clearly a massive problem here, and a profound need for people to be helped out of these dire situations.  There are a lot of very ill people out there as well, who need help and support.  I just found this article from July last year, that goes some way to explaining part of the situation.  I can't help wondering how this country, this superpower, where everyone wants to come, where you can get whatever you want, 24 hours a day, can't  look after its people.

But is the UK the same? There is ConDemNation of the attitude of the coalition to the 'poor'; we are now 'Foodbank Britain', with a 'bedroom tax'.  Discrimination is rife, hence campaigns like Everyday Sexism (which encourages people to report instances of sexism against women); the No More Page 3 campaign, which is working tirelessly to get The Sun to make page 3 a thing of the past; the Valuing Maternity campaign, working to raise awareness of and to combat pregnancy discrimination - did you know that 60,000 women a year lose their jobs as a result of pregnancy discrimination? We should not have to have organisations called things like the Child Poverty Action Group; we should not have to campaign against the government cuts which have made life so very difficult for people.  Look at the NHS cuts, the cuts to maternity benefits, the changes to disability benefits, which have forced people who cannot work, to look for work. 'Working poor' has become a thing.  Who saw that Sport Relief programme, where those 'celebrities' (famous in their own households at least), lived with people who live in food poverty and tried to understand the barriers that people face to being able to eat.  'Food poverty' - how has that even become a term?!

Sorry - I'm ranting now.  What's the solution? Is there a solution? I'm not sure where you are theologically, but if you believe that there is a God / god(s), just consider how He / She / they must feel about the mess that humanity has made of the world.  And that was epitomised in Market Street today.

Right - that's it, I'm going to go into politics when I get home.  I've recently become Lead Volunteer for Advocacy for Girlguiding LaSER, which is very exciting and presents a great opportunity to help more women and girls to get stuck into politics, whilst doing good at the same time.  Who's in?!

After coffee I met up with the delightful Mr and Mrs O for some divine ice-cream and a good natter.  They are baby's godparents and have been holidaying here each side of the christening.  We sat in the ferry terminal watching the world go by and catching up.  Sublime.  They are coming up here tomorrow before flying home.  Happy days.

Well done if you've made it this far and didn't give up mid-rant.  More tomorrow.  Night all - going to go and slay those windchimes.  I was hoping they would be lost in transit, but no such luck.