Forcing Christmas Spirit Down Our Throats

One of the major shopping streets in our city has begun to force Christmas spirit down our throats.

I happen to work on this street at the moment and as such have to walk past the offending area every day. The loud Christmas music blaring from the building is bearable. Even the ridiculously dramatic Christmas advertisements that are shown from adjacent buildings onto the street can be ignored. But the fake snow that is blasting from the roof of the building throughout the street I simply despise.

It tastes disgusting and clings awfully to clothes. More than this, it is a completely hollow attempt to create some sort of a Christmas feeling throughout the city. I previously explained my unease around this season and while I do encourage everyone to enjoy the holiday time I myself still struggle with it. While the lights and decorations are artificial, they are mainly inoffensive. This powdery nonsense is an inescapable reminder of the coming Christmas.

It is artificial and so is the sentiment that the store is trying to create. It almost never snows around Christmas in this area. The weather is far more likely to take that turn in late winter or early spring. So not only is this fake snow an attempt to create an early commercial frenzy of spending, it is one that does not have any real context in this country. The capitalist extremes that are always bubbling under the surface at this time are increasingly overt.

Never has it been more obvious than this artificial, unintelligible gimmick.

-The English Student

Behind the Scenes of the Service Sector

Working in the service sector has shown me two different types of consumer-company relationships.

In my first service related job I saw a very common company attitude. The organisation puts up a front to its costumers and pretends to care about their opinions and lifestyles. In actuality, they do not care. Working behind these apparently benevolent scenes highlights the hollowness of the whole process. Management does not care about the public, it cares about money. Management also does not care about employees, it cares about their ability to increase profits.

My second service related job highlighted a more subtle and altogether more sinister approach. In this case, the company really did seem to care. Behind the altruistic scenes of high customer satisfaction was an effort to create an environment of high employee satisfaction. Profit really did not seem to be the overriding principle of the company. Of course, this cannot be true. On some level, almost entirely unseen, the cold and calculating basis of business lurked in the recesses of the building.

But this taint was never fully embodied by any employee. Granted, the overall manager was more concerned with income than any other person in the organisation but even this person seemed to value profit for its ability to keep his staff employed and to help provide an excellent consumer experience. Maybe someone beyond this manager is to blame. The image of an overseeing tyrant at the base of these companies is a comforting one as it places the blame on an individual person. We could blame this person for greed and theorise that they lost their way in a capitalist system designed to help create an equatable world. I fear that there is a much more harrowing alternative. Organisations like this one seem to have developed traits that are no longer represented by its staff and are completely beyond their control. There is no shrouded master controlling the cogs of the machine.

In actuality, the machine we created is controlling us and in the process, our humanity is being consumed.

-The English Student

A Rejuvenation Project

A part of the city I had written off as obsolete has taken me by surprise.

When deciding on where to place settlements, our ancestors invariably chose places with access to fresh water. The founding of our capital city was of course no exception. The advantage of the river that flows through the city and the history behind it has been detailed by many people. The nature of this transport and economic hub changed with technology and history while remaining centred around the river and port. While the obvious use of the harbour for import and export remained constant a certain dark, foreboding tone fell upon the area. It was a dangerous place.

That is, until the recent rejuvenation projects have come to fruition. I recently walked through this area, not to sight-see, but to get somewhere else. I was determined to travel through the docklands with the greatest of speed in order to avoid the usual dread and danger associated with it. I was truly ignorant of the new atmosphere that has been developed. Wonderfully modern buildings have been completed, with fascinating architecture and glorious glass-fronted façades. Brilliant lights blaze out from these new monuments and bathe the entire area in a warm and clean glow.

The turn around in this area is, for me, truly remarkable. I think the rejuvenation can be summed up by the new bridges that have been erected down at the docklands. There are various pedestrian bridges with wonderful sharp architectural lines that are lit up in fanciful ways. Significantly, these bridges are not retractable and cannot be navigated through by large ships. While these ships would very rarely have come far up the river in the past it is emblematic that this new harbour area is not focused on supporting shipping.

The river mouth has shed its original use and as a result it remains a focal point for the city.

-The English Student

Hollow Statistics

With unemployment hitting a record high percentage it is very easy to become blinded by these statistics.

The number of job losses hitting this country are dilligently reported by the papers and the figures relating to unemployment are frequently changing and always provided. The rate of unemployment benefit has become a subject of much political debate as politicians attempt to curb the massive economic crisis the country faces. But do any of these politicians actually understand the reality behind these statistics?

I faced a relatively short term of unemployment. For approximately 2 months I was without a job and even for that brief period I was hit by the debilitating effects of unemployment. It is extremely difficult to motivate yourself when you have no job. Your self worth plummets and you question your value as a person. Shame sets in and it becomes extremely difficult to face the world. This especially hurts when on public transport, surrounded by working people that have an opportunity to contribute to society. It truly is terrible.

Trying to summarise these emotions with statistics and figures is also terrible. Obviously governments cannot practically review every individual circumstance and must try to gain an overall understanding of a situation in order to make an overall decision. But the vast majority of these politicians have no idea what unemployment is really like. These statistics are meaningful for the person affected by them but are hollow for the people who have the power to affect the situation.

Until politicians find empathy behind statistics there will be a massive rift between them and the unemployed and struggling voters.

-The English Student

A Shackle of Time

I have once again began wearing a wrist watch.

I briefly wore a watch a few years ago but not for a very extended period of time. In fact in retrospect I have owned three or four watches and have never really become someone who wears one at all times. Recently however, I became obliged to find an alternative method from my phone for checking the time. So once again I have taken to wearing a watch and this time it is becoming clear why I do not like them.

For a start, the watch I own is hideous. It is a lump of brown and silver hastily thrown together and wrapped around my wrist. It is also a heavy lump of brown and silver that constantly weighs me down and reminds me of its presence. The third sense that it offends is my sense of hearing. The loud tick of this malevolent device rings out in my ears whenever there is quiet around me.

All of these things seem quite small and petty. But in actuality they are more than mere annoyances. I had no problem checking the time on my phone because my phone was not a dedicated timepiece. The fact that it told the time was a useful application of my phone, not its sole purpose. A watch on the other hand is a constant reminder of time and life slipping away. It is a shackle that imposes human measurements on existence and does not let you escape the inevitable implications of passing time.

I doubt I will ever be able to comfortably wear this shackle.

-The English Student