La Raconteur will tell you stories that will make you think and may challenge your perceptions of your perspective.....
Season’s Greetings
Le Raconteur wishes everyone a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year.
Still Watching
Inspired by VeryShortStory : As my body expired, my soul was set adrift looking for a new vessel. When I drifted into a statue, I knew I might be here a while.
How long I would be here I had no idea, I had no idea of the rules of this game. But I suspected that it would be a very long while and at first, I felt so unalive. Then as the days dragged into weeks, I realised that I was watching life passing by. I realised that I was getting the chance to experience life as it really was, now that I was done with rushing around, too busy to really be alive.
I noticed the colours of the leaves as summer turned to autumn, green slowly fading away to brown and finally the leaves falling to the ground. I watched the young lovers, forbidden by custom to be together but with a passion that would set the square alight. Wishing that someone would come along and give them the courage to stand up and fight for their love. How different that was from the way I was, I gave up so much love for the good job, the prospects, the good life.
I watched as the tears run down the face of this old crazy looking man, who always had time to sit for a while to speak quietly to some long lost love and made me always think of all those I just let pass on without as much as a goodbye.
Then there were the students, always lively on a weekend night, with the forbidden bottle of wine and a forbidden bottle of cider. There always seemed to be one, feeling a little flush with some cash that had a bottle of beer. They'd congregate around my base, teasing and messing about. Now and then a girl and a boy would move to the shadows to have a snog and a rub! You'd hope these kids will be friends for the rest of their lives, not like how I'd turned my back on those that I had liked.
Then in the deepest of the night, there would be the lost souls who came out and hid in the doorways, some would smoke and some would have their fix, some will be drunk and some would be just very sad. These are the ones I did not know before but now I knew so well, Arnie and Sam, Ben on his own again and Sarah who always thought she was worth a trick so she could get her kick. These were not my people then but they are my people now.
And then the sun would come and they would fade away to hide from the 'real' world, away from them who knew nothing nor wanted to know of them. Those were the people on those buses on their way to work as the day commenced, the buses like the one that has sent my soul to rest in this statue.
The moral : Enjoy life while you can, stop and watch and learn. We are only here a short time.
A little warmth.
Diane had been at work 10 minutes when the first parent turned up with his boisterous seven year old daughter. It was a miserable morning with the persistent rain from last night still dribbling down in the wintery morning dark. Thank God, she did not have to commute like Mr Davies, the parent at the door, obviously did. Diane certainly had not enjoyed the walk into work this morning and it did nothing for her foul mood. Why did she always seem to find these useless men to go out with?
She opened the door as she did every day and Mr Davies and his daughter, Rebecca, said 'Good Morning' as they usually did. Mr Davies when to sign his daughter in whilst Rebecca shot off into the corner to dump her bag and coat, preparing to tackle the breakfast club activities. Breakfast was probably not far off her mind as well. Mr Davies exchanged pleasantries with Diane's colleague Michelle as he signed the register before returning to the door. Diane didn't intend to open the door until he was close, no use letting in the cold damp air when they had just managed to warm the room up.
"What's the matter?" Mr Davies asked as he approached, "I am so used to seeing you gorgeous smile and that amazing twinkle in those", he paused like trying to find a word, "Beautiful eyes." Another very brief pause. "Ah, yes, wonderful eyes."
Diane was absolutely gobsmacked and before she could respond, Mr Davies continued with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes "I don't know about other men but after I've seen your smile in the morning, I am ready to tackle anything". Whilst saying that he had taken her hand and was patting it like a child's, "Cheer up dearie, it may never happen". And with that he was gone.
Diane and Michelle stared at each other for a few seconds then burst out laughing. "Did he just hit on me?" asked Diane very confused. No, he can't have. Not old Mr Davies, well maybe not old, but certainly in his forties, Mr Davies. No, it can't be. I mean she was old enough to be his daughter, a mere 20 years old.
Rebecca just looked at these crazy confused grown-ups, shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and brought them back to earth with "Can I have some breakfast, please?"
All day Diane felt really good and on a number of times remembered the warm hand hold and the way she felt really warm all over inside at the time. She smiled a lot that day.
For the next few weeks until half term, Mr Davies dropped his daughter off as usual, Diane smiled at him every day and all returned to normal. Mr Davies showed no signs of ever remembering that morning but Diane certainly thought of it several times and the memory always made her feel warm and happy.
On the last day of term, Diane had arranged to go out and celebrate with her boyfriend who not for the first time, changed his mind so he could 'hang out with his boys'. As she angrily put down the phone, for some peculiar reason, Mr Davies came to mind. She thought about it for a minute, picked up the phone her best friend in the world, Sandra.
"Sandra, what you doing tonight?"
"Nothing, was just going to chill at home, too horrible outside."
"Let's go out for a drink. Somewhere different, somewhere where the rats we see all the time don't go, please, please. I am sick of the ghetto and these ghetto bootie call blokes."
Two hours later, they stood hesitantly outside what looked like a bit of a posh bar in the city centre. From behind them, came a voice "Come on, ladies, get in there! It's not so bad a place."
The friends turned and Diane looked into a ridiculously handsome smiling face. Naturally, she smiled too.
"Ohhhh" said face "What a gorgeous smile and them eyes…", he paused staring deep into her soul, "Ah, yes, wonderful eyes". All he needed to do now was hold her hand.
Sometimes we get so entangled in our lives, we forget to look up and realise that we are not tied to what life has handed us. It shouldn't take a little act to make us feel different about ourselves; we should stop one in a while to see how we can make ourselves a little happier.
You heard it from Le Raconteur.
Be Prepared
Scenario: It is 2015, the world is recovering from one of the last great recession but Europe and the USA are not doing so well. So many people were laid off in those years and countries led by China and Asia but including African and South American countries picked up the slack and now lead the world economy. Large European and American multi-nationals, many of which have been run and owned by foreign management and finance for many years, took advantage of the down turn to shift operation to ‘cheaper’ regions. The banks, the ones that were the main cause of the financial crisis, now de-nationalised by returning only a percentage of the billions of tax payers’ money, are under pressure to return to the pre-recession profitability, are pressurizing the now the millions of now unemployed tax payers to make good on their mortgages and loans.
Across Europe, the millions of ‘native’ citizens are voting fascist governments into power. In one country, the government has revoked the citizenship of millions of ‘non-native’ people – those who do not two ‘native’ parents. The rights of these revoked citizens have been reduced to such a point that many are considering leaving. In another country, refugees stream into neighboring country as ‘non natives’ are ‘disappearing’ at an alarming rate, some into special camps set up as refugee clearance centers. In the USA, even non native citizens are demanding that the government accept no more European refugees, the US is full now. The strength of fascist political parties continues to soar in other countries even in Britain, where race relations have been strongest in Europe for years. End scenario.
Do you think this is an impossible situation? If you do, you need to read some history especially the events that led to WW1 and WW2. The question you must ask yourself is how prepared are you to manage if you had to leave your home, your country and your job? Would you manage or would you end up like the people we see on our TV in countries in Africa – in refugee camps – with no way out?
To be a really content person you must constantly use your abilities to continuously improve yourself. Strive for knowledge and plan ahead to put yourself in a position to be able to handle the curve balls life throws at you. I am not only talking about education but about investment and opportunities – things that will help you when things go bad. Too many of us have got complacent, the social benefit system will always be there, education will be there for the taking if I need it etc etc. In these crisis times, many people are discovering different. We must constantly examine these assumptions closely and protect ourselves for eventualities. In other words, even when things are good, we must continue to grow – in personality, in profession and in financial terms. It is our only true protection from life’s hiccups. Think about it.
The Little Things.
Not willing to face another conference dinner talking shop, drinking too much and not enjoying himself too much, James decided despite the beautiful surroundings of the conference centre, he would rather commute for these 2 days from the nearest city. On Google Maps, it looked doable and at least he would get to explore a wonderful UK city in the evening, maybe even get to try a special Welsh dinner, if such a thing existed, as well.
So, Internet savvy, that James was, a branded hotel was quickly sourced and booked for the two day jaunt.
The day of travel did go as well as planned. For some reason, the railway timetable application on the iPhone, normally excellent for route planning, refused to show certain routes only though James was very aware that there should have other options. Anyway to cut the story short, James did not make Plan A, improvised a Plan B en-route and ended up having to make 3 stop-overs and spending the last leg of the trip on a train from the 1950s or so it seemed.
So it was early evening on arrival at the hotel. The reception area was not very clearly marked and for a few moments, James though he had entered through a side entrance that seemed to be for the bar. That was not the case, it was that the reception and the bar were sort of joined in such as way that the receptionist could also be the barmaid.
Check in was fairly rapid especially when the receptionist mumbled through some blurb about special offers on Broadband, Internet, TV and the like, something about breakfast. Poor girl was obviously not English and was avoiding too many questions, James had to surmise as he headed for the single lift. It is interesting that in the last three or four years, the hotel industry in the UK appears to be nearly solely staffed by foreign and usually beautiful 'students'.
James signed up to the £9.99 per day broadband offer which needed to be done on the room TV. Then he discovered how stupid human beings can be. To connect his laptop to the Internet to deal with some emails, he had to drag a cable from behind the television, across the front of the wardrobe onto the little desktop. The cable just was long enough - to connect to the laptop if it was balanced right at the edge of the worktop. And you had to be careful in pulling that cable as he discovered saving the TV from bouncing of the carpeted floor. When the cable was stretched the TV had to be twisted slightly that you had to be on the other side of the bed to watch it comfortably.
A tour of the city's main entertainment area followed and he settled for one of the branded Italian restaurants followed by a few beers in a couple of the local drinking holes and a return for sleep.
Just as he was ready to turn in, James noticed what sounded like a train pass the hotel and it sounded real close. He hadn't noticed that before. A quick glance out the window confirmed his fear, a railway line ran right past the hotel. No mention of that in the brochure was there but then again who would build a hotel next to a railway line? He hoped it was not a busy line and went to bed.
Half past two in the morning, he bolted up from his sleep. An alarm - a very loud alarm was going off. As his sleepy mind tried to determine whether this was fire alarm or one of those panic alarms that some hotels have for disabled guests, the alarm stopped. James waited a few minutes to hear if there were sounds of evacuation going on before settling down again.
In the morning, James had a white coffee with two sugars as he prepared to go to the conference. Later breakfast for £4.99 was quite sparse and whilst tucking into toast and coffee, James overheard the non-native English speaker receptionist trying to appease a gentleman who obviously was upset about the midnight alarm episode - whilst the manageress hid somewhere in the back office? Let's just say Welsh English and Eastern European English does not equal effective communication!
That evening, James sauntered back into the hotel to freshen up and drop of the conference stuff earlier than he had been the night before. He was determined to find a better place to eat and have a drink afterwards, nor did he want too late a night. Up two flights and he discovers that his key does not work, requiring a return trip to reception to re-program. No apology given but then none was asked for!
A good evening was had though the Welsh meal eluded our James and so it came to the check-out morning. After personal business, James though he would have a coffee as he packed up all his stuff. He finds 1 sugar and no teaspoons. Obviously whoever cleaned his room would have worked out that surely the person in this room drinks coffee, white, 2 sugars and therefore be likely to want to do so again? Some improvisation was in order.
And finally, he had to send some files into the office before setting off to the conference so the Internet access was set up only to find that £9.99 24 hour access doesn't quite mean the same to everyone. Foy the one paying it means from the time one pays whether 9am or 9pm to the next occurrence of such time, for the ones extracting the cash it seems to mean until midnight the day of the payment!
You can imagine the probability of James' use of these hotels again. Despite that the hotel was clean, the staff fairly friendly and it was a reasonable cost, James will probably never stay in a hotel from this group again.
And yet it is the small things that make so much of a difference to us. Everyone expects the big things to be done right, it is what is done with the small important stuff that makes for the experience. It is so true for business and this is true for so many other things, including, very important this, our relationships.
When I see people complain about how they have done everything for their partners during break-ups, 'I cooked for him', 'I ironed her skirts, man', 'I changed the damn nappies', I wonder how many times did you notice when they were sad and down or needed some alone time? How many times did you do something so unexpected it made them smile broadly and happily? Think about it.
You heard it from Le Raconteur.