The nineties

         You can look on it as an achievement to reach ninety, or as a mistake.   In any case, it's likely to be not so much of an achievement  as a matter of luck.   You didn't, in the end, drink or smoke too much, you weren't struck down by disease, maybe your family were generally long-lived.   Whatever the reason, here you are, at ninety - if you can walk, if you can talk, if you can hear and see, there's nothing to stop you getting on with your life.  But there isn't much of it left to get on with, is there?  You're on death row, in spite of  diligent efforts by friends and family to suggest you might go on forever.
         So what to do with that time?    If you have enough money, you can enjoy it and go on holiday wherever you want.  If you are feeling useless, you could try to get work.   But who will have you?  There are charities calling out for much-needed helpers, but you might not be accepted because of your age, and certainly you are no good at going round knocking on doors anymore.
     We have one shining example, even for republicans, and that is the Queen.   Ninety next spring, she has already stated an intention to hold a 90th birthday party for all in the Mall, leading to Buckingham Palace.
     There she is, dressed in the formal clothes with a hat (which for some reason she feels she has to wear though we know she prefers riding clothes) going round from one formal event to another, giving charities and good works her gracious patronage, standing for far longer than most of her age could manage, banquets and speeches which even the young find tiring.   Yes, she has expert medical help at the ready - we suppose - and bands of dressers and helpers and food supplies without the worries of shopping and cooking.  But all that assistance requires her overall supervision.   Having help can actually be demanding, and dressing up every day certainly is. 
       The rest of us have a drawback - with the retirement age set at the far too early 'sixties, we often have an uneasy place in society and go looking for charity work, though age does not usually stop artists and writers, working independently.  Isolation can bring loneliness.  In some other societies, the nineties are valued, not discouraged. They can be useful with their experience of life.    It's hard for those in the middle, but it could be harder later. 




        

Help for the helpless?

     The needs of the many thousands fleeing from Syria are huge.   Food and clothing provide only temporary relief for those queueing on the borders in Austria, struggling to get to permanent safety.     They are providing a problem for the European Union it has not met before and so far seems unable to handle effectively.
     Some 18,000 refugees were recognised as a minimum quota for the UK, by EU leaders, though David Cameron, after a long delay, has said 20,000 will be admitted.   It can't be denied that this undertaking seems to be in line with general opinion in the UK, which has not been offering an open-handed welcome to the refugees.   Maybe, as some claim, we have a fine tradition of helping those fleeing from persecution abroad.  Or maybe not.
        If there has been this tradition from the past, the historic record of the fate of the refugees now fleeing to western Europe is likely to be different, with the UK this time showing a disregard for the cold and hunger and lack of shelter of those seeking a place where they can be safe.   And the government's attitude as well as that of the UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, seems to be sympathetically shared by large numbers of the public.   "They should stay and sort out their own country themselves," said one Cornishman to me.   Efforts to raise funds were meeting with no success in this Cornish village and nor were suggestions that Britain might take in refugees.  "How do we know that there aren't some IS terrorists among them?" asked one.
         No, it is not proving a popular charitable cause in many parts of the country, even though others are putting in huge efforts to raise funds and provide temporary homes for refugees.    This is not going to be our proudest moment - that distinction is this time going to Germany.
   
        
 ends