malumbu

The OP was to consider the value of unconscious bias training. In our metropolitan bubble many of us are pretty aware, but even then I found it useful. Also recognising how I (and society) has changed over the years - so a big sorry for all of those clumsy stories I've told over the years without realising potential offence. This was intended to cover all elements of diversity, including mental health, intelligence, the regions of the UK and this country. Going back to my childhood where the Black and White minstrels, sit coms featuring camp men (I'm free!) and lampooning those with mental health problems would all be prime time comedy. Most have moved on but there still feels to be a lag. Picking up of the fictitious example: I don't mind immigrants, but I do struggle to communicate well with the new village shopkeeper What about I like new people in my community and I have spent time getting to know them including their accent. Funnily enough there was a wonderful part of Myra Syal's autobiography where her gran, who speaks no English, comes over and gets on fantastically with the middle aged shop keeper who has a broad black country accent.

Thinking of a Twitter argument a few degrees of separation away got me wondering. It was a sort of "I don't hate immigrants but....." in rationalsing their rancour. Not a million miles away from Nige. It is compulsory in my workplace to have 'unconscious bias' training. On the face of it comes across as a bit nanny state, bleeding heart liberals etc. I of course am not racist, homophobic, trans-phobic, disability phobic etc. But.... you do the training and it makes you think about how you perceive people different to your own identity group (even though you don't necessarily realise this). So with regards to the "I don't mind immigrants but..." How much deep in the brain is colouring views? Or am I simply more amenable to looking inside my brain and trying to understand how my onions are informed, and hopefully can be challenged, whereas said Twitter would be resistant to this and think it all lefty baloney. And of course said person is articulate, well educated and comes across very informed.

Johnson didn't announce anything new.

Oh you devil, but we are straying into a private conversation. Perhaps others may have a view....

I see them from time to time including on a bin store in SE22 Big elsewhere - Scandinavia has done it for years. Google it and you will get lots of good advice. Our shed#s pitch is too great to do this. }~Post some nice pictures when you have done it

PM'd contact

Sorry for the confusion Cat. As it is sometimes difficult to set the tone on posts I add something a little self deprecating ie telling people not to whinge, and then whinging myself. It's supposed to lighten things, and hopefully appear less confrontational or pompous. I had a couple of trolls who liked picking apart my posts but they seemed to have retired. There is a serious point of going to social media rather trying to sort out directly. An example from pre-social media days: The council are consulting on a new bus route and stops and are knocking on doors. They go to the affluent area; oh don't be silly they don't need buses there. They go to the working class area "excuse me sir, would you like a new bus stop outside your house" The response is a punch (ie no). They go to the middle class area, with the same question, and the person answering mumbles something in reply, then writes to the Times and/or their MP complaining about the proposed bus stop. Its an analgy and I'm not advocating you attack the staff in Sainsburys or other confrontation.

One for the Mancs and Scousers

Please man/women/other gender up and speak to the shop. Try a "hello can I speak to the manager/supervisor". "Disappointed that you failed your normal high standards". It will probably get an immediate result, but you can also go to their complaints e-mail address. If that doesn't work I suggest a sit in, or out, banners, letter to the CEO/your MP, local Whatsapp group, petition to parliament, leave the EU. Not sure why I am spoon-feeding you this, maybe its a generation things. It's also nice to give praise from time to time. Meanwhile a more important thing to discuss, why are the major supermarket French pastries so horrible. You get a nice coffee on the brew, the sun is shining, you are looking out towards Dulwich Hamlet thinking you are on the continent then you are hit by this solid doughy thing. Sadly I vote with my feet.

Tribute to John Prine, who was lost to coronavirus

Compared to where? In the UK it is (or maybe was) disproportionately subsidised by central government. Compared to many big cities in Europe it is less well supported. Crofton Park to Swanley ?2.90 11 miles in the Oyster Zone Crofton Park to Eynsford ?7.70 one stop after Swanley, outside the Zone

Goldfinch numbers well up. Think it is the horrid weather and my feeders providing a relatively safe haven. Nuisance wood pigeons eating up the nyger seeds that fall onto the feeder tray - broke one of the trays, and the grass seed that I sowed.

Major success in reducing lead concentrations - banning lead paint, stopping nasty industries and banning lead in petrol. Well done successive governments, academics, public health experts and the international community.

Why does this forum, which I expect is generally populated by intelligent people, always degrade to a soapbox to throw rocks at the Mayor? London has one of the best and cheapest public transport networks in the country. In recent times helped by innovation (Oyster, and then contactless), more joined up networks, increased patronage (OK that hasn't survived Covid). It takes heaps of money, and we are only in this enviable position due to central government subsidy. All the Mayors have made mistakes - Livingstone promising conductors on our buses, 40p/70p outer and inner fares and the silly bendy buses - but boy did he modernise things, Johnson allowing the capital grant to be given up and his expensive and unnecessary new Routemasters, and Khan (see above). But do you have a good thing to say about the latter or will it just continue to be a whingefest?

I've seen almost everything. From cellular offices fitting one to double figures, to smoking and non-smoking offices, to open plan, to reduced space and desk allocation, to hot desking and break out areas, to office hubs around the M25, to many people working from their bedrooms including on their bed on laptops. Awful working environment. In the late 80s I read an article in the Times that London property prices, rents and population would collapse as we all moved to 'teleworking'. Wonder how much this would be the case. But the thing that really got to me was office space reducing in central London as we were persuaded that it would be good to lose your desk if you left for a meeting, and even better if you worked from home, on the tube, from a park bench, Costa, wherever. Offices set up for 80% occupancy, falling to 50%, with a scrum for desks early on a Monday and even worse on a Tuesday, meaning those who arrived a little later roaming around looking for places to work, to half empty offices on a Friday as this was the preferred WFH day. And now all up in smoke as you can't socially distance in a cramped office where you are an elbow away from your colleague. Personally I need the contact and social element. A day a week at home is enough. A Graudian article reckoned that the young found this harder, due to the need to socialise, but I find it just as difficult due to the the need to have that buzz and creativity - that just doesn't work on Teams or Zoom. The article also mentioned the unconscious learning from picking up what colleagues were up to.

Bird life is a bit depleted, there must be better sources of food out in the wild at the moment. Blue tits have returned as have the gold finches. Otherwise it is the annoying wood pigeons, green squawky things and crows.

redpost Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Trunk roads and their bus lanes are entirely TFL's > domain, nothing to do with southwark. If you don't > like then don't vote for the mayor. > > But this is fantastic news! > > More reliable bus journeys and easier cycling. > More rabid motorist comments on EDF. More planters > etc. What's not to like? Are you me in disguise? Or perhaps I am you. Funny how many posting are probably soft left, but attack their civil liberties about the right to drive when you like, where you like, why you like, and how you like and you turn into the rabid right. There is just so much wrong with unrestricted driving. How we need a culture change in the same way that we are stunned that people used to smoke in pubs. Did that really happen? Sadly because we can't change our habits, and government wont do the right thing including compelling authorities to put in average speed limit cameras, we get blunt instruments.

Isn't this an advert?

Not sure why the usual suspects have not been raised Peckham Rye, Khans and multiple interesting 'ethnic' shops SMBS foods The Asian grocers (North Cross Road?) All probably pay their taxes unlike Jeff https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/18/jeff-bezos-amazon-10bn-more-taxes

Sadly Urban dictionary hasn't got anything rude under WR. I was going to WR to this thread.

seenbeen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think we all found out who the nutjobs and > lunatics are after the milkshake was thrown at > Nigel Farage and Jo Brand said it should have been > acid. And when Boris got coronavirus and another > second rate comedienne Miriam Margolyes said she > wished he would die..... > Still, it's nice to know what these fools really > think! You wont like this then (pre-Thatcher's death). I'm not going to apologise. It's not wishing her dead, just celebrating it.

What on earth is a plant based diet? Who on earth coined this phrase?? I decided not to eat meat, fish and sea food a long time ago. That is a choice. Do I hate labels. PS Linda Mc stuff in dreadful. And Quorn - a distant relative of athletes' foot, has changed its constituents, for the worse, in recent times. No excuse for loading it with salt.

Put it on the items for sale/give away part of this thread. Dealers scour it so you will get an instant offer. Then after that falls through someone local will take it.

Wow this is getting a rather toxic. To be constructive I posed the question on how you bring back the county again. Blair did it before he came a war monger. Cameron could have done it. May tried, but this was an abject failure. Before all of this Thatcher did a great job at dividing us, and it feels deja vu again. But forget my simplistic and bias analysis. What can be done? The opportunities from coronavirus already seem to have been lost. Apols for hijacking your thread Cat, but it seemed to have become a bit of a sick parrot

As said at the time of May's rapid decline be careful of what you wish for. Clearly Sunak it a much better leader, even if it simply that he is not a sociopath like Gove. Perhaps he is the only talented person in the Cabinet. His politics aint so good though..... If it was Gove I'll just hide under the covers and never get up again.