The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post

The latest Phil Evans column from the South Wales Evening Post.
Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy.
www.philevans.co.uk

-----------------------------------------

Shame on them:
They say writing is 10 percent inspiration, 90 percent perspiration - unless you’re a writer who lives in the middle of the Sahara, in which case....how do you prevent your sweaty fingers from sliding off the keyboard?
Before I begin scribbling my weekly witterings, I usually have no idea what to write, so very often perspiration wins over inspiration.
But there are times when an experience will cause me to rush to my laptop to get the words down, fast.
Such an incident happened at a motorway services on the M5.
I had no business being on the M5 because I was driving from Bridgend to Carmarthen, but that’s another story...
After I’d got my coffee from the machine, told the till lady “I’ve only got a £20 note, sorry” and she’d replied “That’s alright, love. You can owe me the extra 35 pence”, I went outside with my cup.
No....it couldn’t have been a cup because I heard the till lady remark “That mug’s going outside!”
It was a bright, crisp winter’s day and as I sat on a bench watching the steam rising from my cappuccino – everyone needs a hobby – I was joined by a lively group of disabled people and their carers. They were in great humour, clearly enjoying being out on the first dry day we’d had for ages. Their loud laughter wasn’t an issue for me.
Well it’s been such a long time since I’ve heard any.
But I was astonished by the reaction of other adults sat around us, who stared inappropriately and disapprovingly at the disabled people, while ignoring the bad behaviour of their own children.
I have no idea why these intolerant onlookers were so annoyed by a group of wheelchair users, but obviously they didn’t have the common sense to think for just one moment that they and their annoying offspring might one day be involved in an accident or develop a serious illness that could render them ‘disabled’.
I can only put their appalling attitude down to ignorance, which in 2016 is inexcusable – but extremely common.
The chilling words of The Spirit of Christmas Present have stayed with me since I first read “A Christmas Carol”...
“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both.
But most of all, beware this boy”.
I believe ‘This boy’ was lurking amongst those insensitive onlookers that day – and they revelled in his presence.
Shame on them.

-----------------------------------------

When the going gets tough:
I admire people who have the ability to reinvent themselves, or learn new skills to improve their current lifestyle and circumstances.
These are the people that make a difference to our communities, towns and country.
Life's contributors.
We all know someone who is constantly learning something new or improving their skills.
We see them attending classes, night school and college, networking events and workshops, we even read about them in our local newspapers.
Many of my close friends and connections are like this or have these traits and I have found to my advantage that more often than not, these qualities can be quite contagious.
With redundancies increasing in the area as a result of challenges in the steel industry and the knock on effect to businesses far and wide, help, guidance and encouragement is now needed to assist our communities to develop and grow so that they can continue to support their families and have a purposeful future.
If there’s one thing us Welsh are good at, it's pulling together in times of need.

-----------------------------------------------

Another setback in public relations:
Following on from my column last week and. in particular. my Brecon snow item, which incidentally generated many comments of joyous banter . . .
I was amazed to read that dozens of motorists were issued with tickets for parking alongside the country roads whilst out enjoying with their families. Clearly that took the fun out of it.
Another setback for good relations between the police and public.
Once again the public and working classes amongst us are taxed by stealth.
All they were doing was taking their families out into our beautiful countryside and enjoying what nature has to offer. While I understand the need to keep our roads safe, couldn't the authorities have handled this differently by directing the traffic instead of just fining them?
What message are they sending out?
What was supposed to be a fun day out for many families turned into a bit of an expensive trip!

--------------------

You can follow Phil Evans on Twitter @philevanswales and www.philevans.co.uk