The age-old fear of Gypsies and Faeries has re-surfaced in Olde Englande (actually, the place is Olde Irelande - as pointed out by Cro) again - two Social Services departments here have been forced to acknowledge that the blonde-haired and blue-eyed children of two dark-haired Roma families are, indeed, their true biological offspring. They have been handed back to the distraught parents following DNA tests.
In a way, I feel a little sorry for the Social Workers - they are usually damned if they do and damned if they don't. Constantly under attack, they now spend most of their working hours trying to avoid headlines like, 'SOCIAL SERVICES DID NOT ACT ON OBVIOUS EVIDENCE'. I'm sure the tabloids would have put it much more succinctly, but you know what I mean.
When the hysteria about age-old paedophilia incidents began to become widespread, a Social Services department on mainland Scotland rowed over to a small and insular, island community to take away ALL the children there, fearing malpractice which actually involved witchcraft.
If I have any prejudice against the Roma at all, it is the way that they hang around traffic lights on busy roads in the Summer with bottles of soapy liquid and squeegees, threatening to clean your windscreens whether you want them to or not.
FOOTNOTE: It has taken a long time for the Catholic Church to do anything about the priests and boys shenanigans malarky, and if transubstantiation isn't witchcraft, then I don't know what is.
ReplyDeleteThe two returned children were in Ye Olde Irlande, so the mistake was understandable. They mistook them for Leprechauns.
ReplyDeleteOops! You are right - at least about the country.
Delete....I am more worried about false black widows
ReplyDeleteSo am I - Bath has had about 15 sightings from my friends alone, and one of those was by me.
DeleteOh, come on you two ...... apparently they are quite harmless, unless you are allergic to their bite. Just listened to a programme all about them They keep themselves to themselves and only bite to defend themselves. They are no more prolific than any other spider ..... they've been in this country for over one hundred years. They reckon the reaction has been a bit hysterical. .....hark at me .... I don't like spiders at all ..... I shall probably be the one who gets bitten now and my leg will have to come off !! XXXX
DeleteI admit to getting caught up with the scaremongering, but they have been in the Canary Isles for centuries, and only about ten million are here right now?
DeleteFFFFUUUCCCKKK!
Roma have always been persecuted Tom. Alright, some of them deserve it - as do some folk in any society - but law abiding ones have to suffer too.
ReplyDeleteTimes like these produce more persecution though, don't they? Sometimes I wish I had been abducted, or run away to the circus...
DeleteI am thinking of The Enormous Room which I now must reread. The world is certainly low in kindness on a large scale.
ReplyDeleteI might have to Read The Enormous Room for the first time.
DeleteYou might not regret it.
DeleteI always used to wish I was stolen by gypsies.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that photograph is awful. I once dislocated my daughter's arm by picking her up by one arm - and got absolutely grilled by a diligent nurse at A and E, as I should have!
Whenever I see an adult dangle a child by one arm (so easy to do, moments like helping them off a ledge or down some stairs while holding another baby or the shopping) I make a point of stopping and telling them what happened.
W.C. Fields with film prop - it wouldn't be allowed these days, even if the pushy parents gave their permission.
DeleteI used to get beaten-up by Gypsy kids who were forced to go to the same school as me, so I dreaded being abducted by their parents.
It's a miracle anyone goes into social work quite frankly. Oh - and I haven't managed to get the image of the False Black Widow's scull imprinted back out of my mind since you post either. I'm on high alert here....
ReplyDeleteSince being alerted, my friend here in Bath has found about 6 of them on a window of his house when he was cleaning it. He put on a pair of gloves and brushed them away. He still has both hands.
DeleteArgh! I'm squirming.
DeleteFalse black widows? I've only ever seen real ones. We've also got brown recluse spiders here, which can deliver a pretty nasty bite. Like black widows, they don't seek to bite humans, but will bite for protection.
ReplyDeleteThe one that walked on my hand as i reached around to unlock the shed door was as surprised to see me as i him. He scurried away, and i made it a point to look around the doorway before unlatching.