Getting ahead

Another cold grey drizzly sort of day. I posted today's Morning Prayer video link to WhatsApp just before 'Thought for the Day', and then got up for breakfast. Before going to the Eucharist at St John's I edited the amendments for eulogy at next Tuesday's funeral and emailed them to the next of kin. There were eight of us for the service. The widow and three of the children of the deceased whose funeral I'm taking a week Tuesday arrived at church to talk through the details with me. 

I learned that he'd spent his working life as a steward on board cruise liners. In his younger days he'd stewarded on the last voyage of the Queen May to its final resting place as shore bound tourist destination in Long Beach California, and had sailed around the world twice in the course of his career. Quite a life for a lad from Riverside Taff Embankment Cardiff.

After parting company I went to Tesco's nearby for my weekly Foodbank shopping. After hearing about the dental health concerns for people on benefits who cannot afford toothbrushes and toothpaste on news, the bulk of my purchase the week was these items. The gulf between the haves and have nots in Britain is getting even wider due to inflation, and state support for the low paid and unwaged which always seems to be less adequate than it needs to be.

While I was in there I heard a rumpus with the sound of breaking bottles. It seems that the same drug addicted man was in store stealing hard liquor, as he did last week when I was there. One male member of staff and a customer obstructed him and prevented him from making off with bottles of spirits, but he ran away. It seems the security guard's shift doesn't start until one. There are a couple of male staff and a dozen female. 

The manager doesn't call the police and staff don't attempt to detain him because of risk to themselves. I was told the man steals spirits and sells them to street drinkers to raise money but drugs. It costs the store several hundred pounds a week in lost or broken items. The police may arrest but charges aren't made. What about banning him with an ASBO? What about involving psychiatric social workers to get these guys treatment for their addictions? I feel so sorry for the supermarket staff who may have to deal with incidents like this several times a day.

After taking my donation back to church, I went home for lunch. Clare cooked me a huge thick gammon steak stewed long and slow in apple juice with cloves. Perfectly delicious, though I needed a siesta to let it digest nicely. Then I went to the Co-op for this week's grocery shopping, and then a walk in the park before supper. 

Before settling down to finish the day with more 'Helsinki Crimes' I finished preparing the texts for the Daily Office and Reflection for the next two weeks, and orders of service for the two funerals I've got in the coming weeks. With some extra services to take while Mother Frances is away, it's good to get ahead on routine preparations, so that I won't feel under pressure, Then I can enjoy what I do even more.