Goodbye Maggie

Monday 8th April 2013 was a sad day. My sister's horse got diagnosed with fatal kidney failure, a family friend's dog fell off a balcony and will probably be paralysed and Margaret Thatcher died. While the larger percentage of the world won't be bothered in the slightest about the tragic fate of the horse or the dog, Maggie's death has had a somewhat bigger effect on the general public.

In all honesty I don't know nearly as much about her policies and changes as I'd like to.. (even after watching The Iron Lady..) For me personally, she's interesting because her era was announced by Saatchi + Saatchi's iconic ad 'Labour isn't working.' An ad straight to the point that met the country's emotional needs. (Or "a truth, well told" according to a competing agency). In terms of PR, she was definitely a major media mortal whose image was honed and toned by some of the brilliantly best in the business; her PM public image was definitely different from the earlier Minister of Education Margaret! A true media madam.

But that's not the point.

I am such a spring chicken, that I wasn't even born when she finished her run as Britain's Iron Lady. Therefore I feel that I am in no great position to judge whether she was good or bad. Of course with my astute graduate level analytical skills, I can analyse whether her policies and decisions benefitted Britain in the long run.. paha. However I really cannot comment on her affect on Britain at the time. Let alone judge her as a person!

And sadly that is exactly what people are doing... The Tab Nottingham reported that there was cheering at the NUS (National Union of Students) delegate meeting on the news of her death, on Saturday night there was a 'Thatcher's Dead' party on Trafalgar Square in London and The Wizard of Oz's 'Ding Dong the witch is dead' song threatened to make it to Number 1 in the official UK charts.

Literally, say whaaa? This simply is not ok! Regardless of who she is, she was a wife / mother etc etc ie. she has family and they've just lost someone they love. When did it ever become acceptable to cheer a death?? Sadly I think that this situation is pretty much the same as the August Riots in 2011.. Oh look, a situation has arisen that allows us to behave like morons.

I really really do hope that people will pull themselves together at her funeral tomorrow and pay the  deceased Marmite Maggie (people seem to either hate or love her..) the respect she deserves.

Tschüssli!

Switzerland, it’s been a pleasure. I’ve survived. 7 months I’ve lived here now and considered myself very much an objective observer of the culture of cheese, cheese fondue and chocolate.

Things I won’t miss about Switzerland…

Fashion: what fashion?

The Prices (especially food): A single zucchini costs 4CHF. Enough said. Or 12.- CHF (about £9) for the equivalent of a tesco value chicken. I’d rather pay less for Findus lasagne and know I was getting horsemeat…

Shop opening times: Sundays are dead to the world. The Swiss officially go into hibernation. You have no food? Not even biscuits? Tough. Sunday is a day of rest. The same goes for aaaaall Bank Holidays / New Years Eve/ New Years Day / random ‘national feast days’ – you get the idea. For instance Zurich; one of the significant business cities on the globe. But Wednesday 1^st August 2012 (National Swiss Day) it is Dead. To. The. World.

Smileys: I’m somewhat of a grammatical snob. I very much associate smileys in texts with my 14-year-old self texting.. (‘wot u up 2?’ Cringe.) BUT I was emailing the Head of HR at a very prestigious publishing house in Zurich, negotiating a formal job interview… Imagine my absolute perplexity when an email contained “no problem :)” Smilies are absolutely 100% acceptable in Switzerland.

Things that I think are rather nice:

Actual ‘lunches’ at lunchtime: You’d be in the definite minority if you stay at your desk devouring your delights during lunch rather than head out to a restaurant. Lunchtime for the Swiss is a big deal. I must say I rather like the idea of actually sitting down for a meal with the colleagues rather than dropping bits of sandwich on my laptop.

Language aspect: Ah yes the Brits abroad… There still seems to be the assumption that everyone else should speak English. But in Switzerland I feel a fool being only able to speak 2 languages!

Noteworthy but bizarre Swiss Observations

Crossing the road: A big deal for me as I am a self professed ‘car hurler’ – over the years, when crossing the road, I have amassed the great skill of assessing the distance between a passing car and myself so that I can begin crossing when it hasn’t entirely passed. Swiss drivers simply do not comprehend this. They will perform a full emergency stop and let you cross. But wag their fingers at you… Thank you kindly but it’s fine! I’ve judged the space and speed between you and the car heading in the opposite direction and I’m more than happy to cross after you’ve passed me!

Shopping: There I am at the till, ready to collect my plastic bags that I will obviously then recycle as bin liners. But everyone else is whacking out their own ‘eco friendly’ tote bags! Of course this is also an option in the UK, but here I’m not offered a single plastic bag! So what happens if I need to do my food-shopping straight from work? Do I have to take my shopping bags to work?

3 Things that I currently do that I don’t have time for

What the title says. Literally & metaphorically – make of it what you wish!

*‘Kimye’ – it’s fine, I get it, they’re dating and they’re happy. Oh and in case you didn’t know, they’re having a baby. Which I incidentally feel should be named ‘PR Stunt Kardashian-West.’ This poor child is going to be splattered across the media so much so that it’s face will almost probably become more familiar to me than my own reflection…while earning mummy and daddy Kimye sweet sweet $$$$$$s

*Bern: the picturesque capital of Switzerland. Idyllic, charming and endearing. Superb for shopping it is not, but nonetheless well worth a visit. Japanese / Spanish / American tourists or locals, all bumble along the cobbled streets or gracefully meander through the arcades, stopping to ooh and ah at the delightful displays of local artefacts in the windows… Here two worlds collide. I am an excessively fast walker, I have places to go and people to see.. But no-one in Berne seems to share my mentality! And the arcades are so narrow. So narrow! I can’t get past!

*The cold air makes my hands dry and look unpleasant.