Saturday 25 June 2016

Yesterday

We're still in France. This river's called the Orb. My parents here receive a monthly pension in pounds. Hopefully by the time of the next payment that pound will have stopped wobbling or the euro will have dropped as well. That's what they're hoping. I figured out yesterday what the Brexit result felt like, over here, not in Britain. What is feels like. It feels like being dumped. I don't mean that as an analogy. I think both me and my girlfriend feel like we've been dumped. And yet here we are, still on holiday, together, which is weird.

Here, I think is where "Remain" may have gone wrong (and it's also where Labour may have gone wrong last election): If trust in politicians is as low as it is right now, you're wasting your time trying to win it back, that's too slow a game. Just promise more stuff. That's what won last year's election for the Tories and it's clearly what won this referendum for "Leave". It's also why those who claim to trust politicians the least always perversely vote for the least trustworthy politicians, because they're the ones promising the most stuff. (And it doesn't bode well at all for Hilary Clinton.) But here's my plan. Here's how we stay in the EU:

We never actually leave, we just tell everyone who voted to leave that we have.

I mean, what are they going to do? Check?

Anyway that was yesterday, here's to today. Today we went to Sete. It's the second biggest port in the south of France. It has THIS terrifying fountain honouring Cthulu in one of its town squares. And it has jousting gondolas. And we caught some of that. We're still in France.


2 comments:

  1. The odd thing is, it feels a bit like being dumped even on the EU side of things. Or maybe it's just me, I don't know.
    I've been feeling sad and confused - and to be honest, a little bit afraid - ever since I heard about the referendum results. I know I have no right to feel that way; I am a EU citizen living in a EU country, and the fact that I probably won't be able to travel to the UK as often as I would like now is completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
    Still, the fact remains that I have many British friends, and I feel sorry for the chaos this referendum has brought upon the entire country. Worried about their future, and all the possible effects such a decision might trigger both within the UK and across the rest of Europe. And above all, scared about the surge in racist incidents over the past few days - people being told to pack their bags and go back home, as if the UK hadn't been their home for many years.
    And, yes, I am aware this is neither the time nor the place for my useless ramblings, so I apologise for that. I just hope things are going to sort themselves out for the best for your parents, and for the whole of the UK.
    Enjoy your holiday if that's still the case, and take all the good memories with you when you go back home.

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  2. Thank you! Everyone has a right to be afraid. There are lots of people on your side.

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