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My head is full of sayings and phrases that have been partially absorbed over the years. Most of them are incorrect, mutated versions of the original version and I have no idea where most of them come from. One I often return to, on bad days and good days, goes something like this: You only ever notice the red lights.
I’m paraphrasing a more eloquent version I’m sure, but as a metaphor I’ve found it helps me keep things in perspective. If you’re driving and getting angry at all the red lights, slowing you down… try and remember that you never notice the green lights, just the red ones. It’s not all bad.
Working in a local newsroom, the island can often appear to be a sea of red lights. Dead fish, petty politics, mis-placed planters (again), the eternal ‘cyclists v motorists’ debate, Ofsted reports, and don’t forget the impending doom of climate catastrophe turning our lawns brown.
P&R telling us we have no money, ESS telling us there are no houses: It’s no wonder the island lost its mind over a single field. The latest horror show? The Little Chapel Foundation threatening legal action against a silversmith for punting his branded mugs.
And the ‘red light’ stories certainly seem to generate a lot of traction, people love a court story, people love a fire. People notice the red lights. Or at least, they like to read about them. The Little Chapel debacle has been our most read article for two weeks and a follow-up on the Little Chapel foundation the third. The second most popular story involved the smuggling of drugs into Les Nicolles…
Apparently, people are now stockpiling water bottles?
I was starting to get a little cynical. Watching people take chunks out of each other on Facebook and Twitter can do that. I’m leaving both Guernsey and this job in two weeks, and I was starting to look forward to it more eagerly.
But now I think I’m going to miss both. The island and the job.
Recently bathed in almost constant sunshine and flooded with tourists, St Peter Port has been absolutely alive. Cycling around I’m looking at the island through the eyes of a stranger; the people spilling from seafront restaurants, the office workers taking lunch at the absolute success story that is the bathing pools. I’ve been swimming more. Bordeaux mostly, but Fermain too, and Havelet, Grandes Rocques, Port Soif…
I picked up a free bag of courgettes from a heg veg stall two days ago. Someone just left them there, with a sign demanding: ENJOY.
Guernsey when it’s great is brilliant. And the stories it generates aren’t all red lights, POPPY’S PEOPLE can attest to that. The island is full of success, people who’ve overcome the most arduous and harrowing experiences, eager to tell their stories in a positive light.
Our athletes did astoundingly well at this year’s Commonwealth Games; the GSPCA rescued a parrot that had been missing for seven years; the North, West and South shows are incoming… a local woman just broke a Guinness World Record by making the world's biggest bubble net.
The Sea Donkey has raised nearly £150k to help disabled swimmers better enjoy the La Vallette pools. Sark exists, and I can go there whenever I want.
After taking a step back, I'm starting to realise, that sometimes there are so many green lights in the Bailiwick it’s blinding.
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