Hardest Hit

I'm new to this blogging business but I've read so many good ones just lately, especially those connected to the disability rights movement, it inspired me to have a go too.

Tony and I went on the Norwich 'Hardest Hit' march on Saturday.  Planning an expedition can get quite complicated. Questions like 'where can we park that won't (A) cost a fortune* and (B) will give us enough room to unload my buggy ?'   become rather important.  Norwich is an ancient and beautiful city and as such is a complete nightmare for anything on wheels.  Buggy riding up a cobbled side street was excruciating, I wish those things had better suspension!  We’d wrapped up fairly warmly in anticipation of an ordinary October day but the sun shone and the wind was warm and balmy, such a pleasure to be out and about on such a day.  Had a bit of a moment en route to Chapelfield  Gardens. I had to take to the road to get past some roadworks and got sandwiched between two enormous lorries. Oh well, I’d already started going grey.

A small but enthusiastic crowd was building in the gardens.  We collected our banners and then wandered around chatting to people, surprisingly few familiar faces. We shuffled off to the music of a mandolin.  There was a bit of polite slogan chanting but you could tell this wasn’t a march of seasoned campaigners.  One woman I spoke to said she was terribly surprised to find herself in a street protest but that she had got so angry at the current injustices that she couldn’t help but join in. A blind friend of hers had lost vital sensory support to the cuts. Talking to other marchers it soon became apparent that there were few people there who weren’t  affected directly or indirectly by the cuts.  No mass turn out of support from an enraged electorate, then.   

The local press was out in force, filming shots for the TV news (did you see my 5 second moment of stardom?!) Most shocking was the utter indifference of many of those we marched past.  Most of them looked straight through us or averted their eyes.  There were few, if any, shouts of support while we trickled along, just fingers drummed on steering wheels in frustration at being held up and losing a few minutes of their oh-so-valuable time – ‘can’t you lot limp any faster?’.  

 Why on earth can’t they understand that we’re doing this for them too.  It could be any one of them.  Any minute. Just a tiny slip up and your life can change forever. You’d think pure self interest would drive them to support us.  But they are them and we are us, different from them.  Strange strangers, reminders of mortality and vulnerability.

.  The march ended in a rally.  Brave speakers, unaccustomed to public notice had their say.  Preaching to the converted.     Those who really needed to hear conspicuous by their absence.

 

*Norwich City Council started charging for disabled parking in August last year.  As a consequence most disabled spaces in most of their car parks are empty and every double yellow line in the city is crammed full.  You'd think they’d have noticed by now that most of us can’t afford their parking charges!