Yesterday, in a local library here in Oxfordshire, a mother was using one of the public internet terminals.<\/p>\n
Fortunately it was a quiet time, because she had with her a young child who was, frankly, out of control.<\/p>\n
‘John. John!,’ she shouted at him from her chair in front of the computer. ‘Stop that!’<\/p>\n
He didn’t.<\/p>\n
She turned to one of the members of staff and shouted ‘I just can’t control him. Can you keep an eye on him for me?’<\/p>\n
The diplomatic response of ‘Childminding isn’t really one of our duties’ didn’t, in my view, go far enough.<\/p>\n
The mother in question didn’t alter what she was doing though. And neither did John.<\/p>\n
Later, the mother had the temerity to ask the library staff to proof-read and punctuate the document she had typed.<\/p>\n
Again there was a tactfully polite refusal.<\/p>\n
My point is this: These days public libraries are all about ‘inclusion’ and ‘service provision’, but when some selfish cunt of a mother takes a disruptive child *in* to a library, and then ignores it (except for shouting at it) while it creates new levels of noise, the time for ‘inclusion’ and ‘service provision’ has gone.<\/p>\n
The senior managers of the library service have let the demands (and ‘rights’) of the few outweigh the expectations – and even rights – of the many.<\/p>\n
And the staff are too hidebound and restricted by the local authority rules of political correctness to be able to do anything about it – anything with teeth, that is, because ‘words of advice’ just bounce off some people<\/p>\n
Serious library users find themselves being excluded by inconsiderate ‘service users’ who just don’t understand the basics of civilised behaviour.<\/p>\n
These people should not be wrapped up and treated gently. They need to be thrown out.<\/p>\n
Not very inclusive of me, is it? So sue me.<\/p>\n
Give me my day in court and I’ll drag these ridiculous rules of public correctness out in to the light so we can all see how the ‘rights’ of the few are being given greater precedence than the ‘rights’ of the many.<\/p>\n
That is all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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