I tried another writing prompt – “Write about your day so far”. I’ve only been up an hour and I haven’t actually set foot outside the house. It could be tricky.
So I tried again – “Write about something you got for free”. After much thought I remembered that I had a free blood test and, because everything went well, my car parking was also free. I think I covered that in several previous posts.
At least I’ve started writing. For a few minutes at the start I just sat and stared at the screen. I’ve been doing that for the last few days. It’s not that I’m lacking inspiration, it’s just that there’s so much of it that I don’t seem to be able to get any work done.
I’ve just been watching a TV programme where Tanni Grey Thompson has been looking into her grandfather’s service as an air raid warden in WW2. I learnt a lot I hadn’t known before, and was very impressed with some of the things I hadn’t realised.
This set me off on a tour of Wikipedia as it’s a subject close to my heart. I recently read a piece that referred to people who didn’t serve in the forces as “shirkers”, which didn’t strike me as fair or accurate.
Seven thousand Civil Defence workers were killed in the UK during the war – something I hadn’t realised before. One of my grandfathers was in a reserved occupation during the war. He volunteered for the RAF twice and his employers applied to have him back twice. He served as fireman in his spare time and found himself called out during the air raids on Liverpool and Manchester.
His brother, a railwayman, was also in a reserved occupation. He was in the Special Constabulary when he wasn’t working.
Strikes me that it was hard work being a shirker.