100 Days - 19th day - did he jump or was he pushed

Lots of good news today. Rico Back 'quits' as CEO of Royal Mail, taking with him, of course, lots of money, and all the shares he's been acquiring over the years. The union is delighted because under his leadership there has been almost constant conflict between the union and management; they argued that his plans were a threat to the universal service (which he wanted to get rid of naturally) and were aimed at breaking up the company. He has been sharply criticised for 'running the company' from Switzerland for the last two months. I mean I know senior management are notorious for being a long way from the people on the ground doing the actually work but that is taking things to the extreme. Ever since privatisation there has been a shift away from the idea that we are a public service towards an emphasis on profits before people. Every year we do an employee survey on which I write that the company should be taken back into public ownership. And apparently we are all going to get a nice little bonus to thank us for keeping the economy afloat while nobody could go to the shops. So that's all right then. And I forgot to mention, lovely lady on Beech Grove gave me some choccies, just for being an excellent postlady.

I have been feeling bad for enjoying the chaos. Listening to the word salad that comes from the mouths of ministers as they try to explain what we are and are not allowed to do is just ripe for ridicule. Snarky articles in the Guardian like this one by John Crace are entertaining, because they need to show up the incompetence of the government's policies, but then I remind myself that it's serious. And then you read the latest reports from across the pond and it almost makes your feel better ... almost. If you are feeling that things can't possibly get any worse the advice from Oliver Burkeman is to accept the state of the world and stop trying to feel you have to fix it all. Good advice for me there.

Book to Make You Think - Inside the Wave by Helen Dunmore from 2018 (poetry)

Stay safe. See you tomorrow.

#100DaysToOffload