In the old days, the last thing any administrator would do was be to lockdown (shutdown) the nations economy.
Take Thatcher when the Chernobyl cloud hit the UK. A good example. She got everybody back to work in the shortest possible time. A harsh decision but probably the right one all things considered. Many outside workers died from Leukaemia later but unpleasant data is usually buried.
One day, early in 2023, I got on a train, post the main Covid debacle event, and was resolved not to talk about any serious matter with my fellow travellers. It was a fine resolution and I intended to catch up with some z's. I caught a really early train and had already driven some distance to the railway station.
BUT who sits down opposite me on that long trip to London? First a smart business lady who later turned out to be a senior official in the nations nuclear generation business. and shortly afterwards another smart looking business lady who turned out to a brand new Labour Member of Parliament on her first trip to the House of Commons. I didn't know this of course... and the scene was set for a very memorable discussion by all -g-
The two ladies exchange pleasantries and discussed the failure of the train seat booking computer. I managed keep my mouth shut on that one. The train was clipping about 140mph and is one of those auto leaning trains that can run on existing curvy tracks. It was built by an Italian company on an original British Idea, but that's another story. Once the maintenance crew made sure those aspects of the train working correctly, I didn't care much about the seat reservation system. It was probably still run buy a computer that used punched tape to run the operating system.
Out of politeness I think, the new MP asked what I thought about the days news stories? I said I didn't read the news stories very often. Another polite enquiry followed. I said I read alternate news sites as the information was often more accurate. There was a bit of a stoney silence on that one and I sensed a lot of the carriages occupants ears had picked up. The lady had just spilled the beans she was a brand new MP on her first trip to London. First day on the job.
I didn't say much at first, but I was thinking this was a very kool opportunity to get a certain message across to the public. I didn't realise how much more kooler an opportunity it was going to get. I was measuring the opposition carefully at this point. She was eloquent and a fast thinker, so I had to choose my points carefully. Best thing to do was wind her up a bit. I started off talking about the Covid debacle a bit and referred to some of the more of the conspiracy laden websites and ideas. This was graciously and humorously countered with the best advice the government had at the time. We wondered off from there onto the Green agenda and the new MP started realising (a bit late) that I knew what I was talking about and the discussion got fairly lively. At this point the other business lady chipped in, supporting my view, and it was revealed she was someone big in the power generation business... silly me didn't twig at that point it was mainly in the nuclear power generation business. Anyway. I had the new MP on a bad wicket, and I was starting to bowl some very fast spinning balls. I turned the subject back to Covid and the lockdown. I have strong Labour political roots, but I spinned the Thatcher Chernobyl story from a business perspective. I knew the word "Thatcher" would probably cause difficulties too... it did.
Here was the jhist of my story.
Politics for Conservatives Message Board - Msg: 34194519 (siliconinvestor.com)
It was at this point I was becoming dimly aware I had totally incensed the lady from the Power generation business. She was hopping mad and came on strong that I was completely wrong with everything. There was a long and detailed techinal discussion on nuclear physics, containment measures, emergency procedures, risk analysis, she really knew her stuff, very capable professional, but I knew my stuff too. She was bit like Peter Ketchum (ex NIST) I think. Very well educated, had been to the best universities, my guess she got a first in everything. Came from an age when women really had to show some style to get ahead in a world dominated by men. The fact is she was really upset, the whole carraige was listening, and I detemined on damage control was the best way to conclude the conversation. They threw some hard punches, and I acquiesced, I was right though, but sometimes the best way to win an argument was to lose it. Especially with a woman. She knew I knew my way around water scrubbing of dangerous particles and gases. i was talking about the rain fall at the time too. She might of questioned things more herself after that discussion. The conversation ended politely enough, as we drew into the destination station 3 hours later. We all learned far more that we had anticipated. dare I say we were all professional in handling ourselves? -g-
In conclusion, keeping a nation locked down is more destructive then sending workers back to employment even in a hazardous conditions. Hate to say it, but Thatcher was right on that one.
We are all right some of the time -g- |
