Thursday 29 May 2008

No War But The Class War

It's taken me over a week to calm down enough to write this post. I've spent a week ranting to myself, and ranting to friends and family. Probably, anyone who is likely to read this post has already heard the story. Never mind.

I've calmed down enough that this post isn't now entitled "burn Falmouth Marina". I've calmed down enough to realise I don't actually want to burn Falmouth Marina. I would, however, like to burn the idea of Falmouth Marina.

For those not living in Falmouth, the Marina is a rich ghetto at the east end of town - posh cars, posh boats, posh houses (although they look like lego), and lots of security gates. There is also a very attractive walkway which links near where I live to town.

Obviously, being the scum I am, I'm not allowed to use this walkway. Those wooden boards may only be trodden by the privileged few, and who knows what may come of the world, if me and my snotty nose kid were allowed access to such luxuries.

I wouldn't normally have bothered even trying to gain access to this exclusive part of town, if I had not heard on the local grapevine that the walkway was open when cruise ships were in. Cruise ship being in, I decided it would be a nice way to walk home with my son.

Unfortunately, all this coming and going by ordinary townsfolk had proved too much for the chosen few, and they had employed a security guard to keep out the riff raff.

Now, I don't get on with security at the best of times. But, I tried. I wasn't rude. I wasn't obnoxious. I simply asked, explained we lived just the other side, and said I'd heard you could walk through. He was adamant I wasn't going to be allowed access, and I could tell I was on to a loser. However, just as I was about to slope off gracefully, one of the rich bastards arrived, put in his access code, and declared, "I should hope not too. We pay thousands for this."

My blood boiled and I don't even remember what I said. My anger made any sense of argument an irrelevancy. I shouted a load of abuse and expletives, without one decent political point, and stormed off muttering to myself in a deranged manner.

So, yes, at first, the idea of burning, or at least doing a substantial amount of damage to the Marina, was a very attractive option. However, now I've realised that it is a very beautiful space, and it would be a shame to destroy it. Instead we should be reclaiming the Marina for everyone to use and enjoy. Anyone fancy a party?

No war but the class war!