Old Lad

It’s been very windy up north. Yesterday, however, I received advice which was life changing. The RAC no less published advice that when I am driving when it is windy, I should slow down and hold firmly on to the steering wheel. Well who would have thought it! I don’t know if it is a feature of becoming an old lad, but there does not seem to a day goes by when some official body or organisation gives out advice which falls into my definition of statements of the blindingly obvious. In the last week I have been told to wear warm clothing when it is cold, to not attempt to wade through or swim through flood water, to hold on to my dog’s lead firmly, and be careful on icy pavements. I’ve also been exhorted to not cough or sneeze over people if I have a cold. What happened to good manners!

As I say this sort of thing seems more prevalent which begs the question- Why? Perhaps we now have a generation which requires hand holding and advice rather than being expected to use common sense. There is a suspicion that the tide of advice and information may have something to do with the growth of Communication Teams in public bodies. Certainly when I was working in the NHS there were incentives for staff to produce advice to justify their existence. And there were inevitable award ceremonies for teams who garnered publicity. The paradox is that the majority of people have never had so much easy access to information via the internet and reliable methods of searching for it. This week we are in the midst of a flu epidemic and there are concerns about slow take up of the vaccine. A representative of care homes was using the excuse that people did not know how to get a vaccination, and that the “Government “ should provide more information. Really? Google flu vaccination and you will instantly get the information. The whole thing becomes a downward spiral with people expecting to be told what to do rather than thinking for themselves and so the nanny state grows.

It may be that we are gradually removing resilience from younger people. When I moved from junior school to the grammar school It involved a journey using 3 bus routes morning and evening. I had a couple of guided dry runs and then had to deal with the journey, the occasional bus running late or not turning up and the fogs in industrial Lancashire which would disrupt the journey. And without the benefit of mobile phones. It was a good exercise in problem solving and thinking for yourself. Perhaps I should be more tolerant of the nanny state but at the moment it’s a bit of an irritation.