Let us now praise famous men...

[fpb]

...or even not so famous ones, so long as they deserve the praise. The attendant at Ruislip Manor tube station, an ageing, tallish, stooping man with fading fairish hair, heard a crash on the steps of his place of work. He came to investigate and found me dealing with a monstrously heavy and nearly unmanageable shopping trolley laden with books and CDs (part of my ongoing house move, of which more when I am able to write more than a paragraph). Ignoring my demurrals, he picked up the thing and helped me dow the staircase with it. Then he helped me with a problem with my day ticket. But what was really impressive was the unfussy, understated, naturally courteous way he did all that. The culture which evidently informs this man's actions - and I never caught his name - is the old culture of service of this country, which thirty years of Thatcherism and post-Thatcherism have tried to extirpate from its people. I am willing to bet that he never calls travellers "customers", for instance. Just now, the management of London Transport is plotting to sack 800 station attendants, on the bizarre superstition that automated ticket machines and closed circuit television can effectively replace them. Well, I very much doubt that a CCTV, let alone an automated ticket machine, could have been much help with my overladen trolley.

This man, as I said, comes from a culture that is nearly extinct, and that his own employers are working to destroy. I don't think it matters much to him; by his looks, he is close to being pensioned off anyway. But as long as he does his work, he will do it to the same high standards.

Comments

[shezan.livejournal.com]

It probably would be a good idea for you to cut & paste exactly this into an actual paper letter, with handwritten address & signature, sent to Boris Johnson.

[affablestranger.livejournal.com]

Technology serves as a tool for mankind, not a replacement for. For a world that says it values humanity, kindness, compassion, dignity, and all that good stuff, we seem surely to be working against our own best interests by replacing the human element in so much of our global life.

Ease, convenience, and cheapness are so overrated.