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The Armando LaGrande
column
Making Hell more like
Heaven
In trying to make the Hell Centre more like heaven, some
common-sense suggestions were made in a letter to this newspaper
yesterday from Isabella Caruana.
Anyone who goes to what she terms the Hell Centre will gather
instantly that something is wrong in that place. Not only does it
resemble a Third World health shed, but it is obvious it is not
fulfilling a proper service in such an important public area as
health.
She writes: It is not only the patients who are frustrated but the
doctors too, who in private conversations agree that the system is
failing everyone.
Now, then, is she not right when she suggests that if the aim is to
ensure that more patients see a doctor, patients who have an ailment
that is, then why is it necessary to see a doctor to ask for a
repeat of prescriptions? Surely there must be another way.
And what about the appointments which patients are required to
obtain so long in advance that by the time the date comes over you
either do not require to see a doctor anymore or you are dead.
Cancelling your appointment? She is quite right again - why doesn't
the health minister Mrs Del Agua try phoning the Health centre which
she might find to be, well yes, hell...
Plastic bags
Some do-gooders, who think little Gib can save the world, keep
harping about discarding plastic bags to save the environment!
Whatever we do or don't do, the effect of this tiny place on the
world environment is lost.
But let us say something ought to be done about it. This brings up
the question if any of these do-gooders actually live in Spain,
because if they do, whatever nonsense they push out in our Gibraltar
will be of no consequence to their own lifestyles...that is to say,
don't use plastic bags in Gibraltar but I will carry using them in
Spain!
Is that their real slogan?
Social Justice versus quick profits
I read something sometime ago about those exMOD houses which the
Government puts out to tender and how wrong it is that some are sold
without restrictions, which means that there are those with fat
wallets who buy them, not to make use of them as living quarters,
but to knock them down and put the site on sale to make a quick
profit.
There must be an element of social justice in such tenders,
attenuating the profit-motive that, as we all know by now, is
causing so many problems to the world.
Don't you agree?
No help for small business
Why is it that in Gibraltar no distinction is made of small
businesses and big businesses?
The big boys can afford resources and should be able to keep up to
date with all the requirements the authorities place on them -
almost working for the government, as some say.
But the small guys are in a totally different league. In other
countries the small business gets special help. But not in
Gibraltar.
Here, not even the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses has a
campaign to help their members.
Have they grown too big?
Money! Money! Money!
Another long weekend, my dear Cloti, but on this
occasion with the meaning of Easter. , Pero at times pienso si se
esta perdiendo el religion, porque esta el mundo que no le conozco.
Well, you could be my granny, y los generations no pasan without
change.
Si, pero, what we need is change for the better, querida mia. We are
losing our values in the quest for materialism.
Oh yes, that may be true, we've had it so good for so long that we
don't know what it is like to live in a different world.
Bueno, el problema es que we want more and more, that all that
matters is money, money money!
I imagínate that you are right, pero con el world financial crisis,
we may all have less money, verdad?
But money is not everything, and the sooner we understand that is
the case the sooner we'll be better equipped to face the future.
Oh yes, pero para que hablar mas in such philosophical terms.
Pues hablaremos about lo que pasa en el Casemates on Friday nights
and ask if the police are doing enough, porque según dicen las cosas
andan mal and if we let it go, la cosa se va a poner bastante
mantecosa.
Y lo del under-age drinking, was that resolved? Porque I remember
que the 'age of drinking' was going to be put up, pero si te digo la
verdad I don't remember how it all ended.
Neither do I, que confused esta todo. Lo importante for some is to
change the jury system y otros adornos.
Y que pasa con los Talks de las tres Patas?
The question is que es lo que no pasa - esta claro que alguien ha
metido la pata porque hasta el Sol esta nublado.
If you ask me, yo creo que los Spanish están revuelto, es que se
creen that we have to give them everything as if we had anything to
give which we did not want to have.
Yo creo que they envy us, porque why should something so small cause
them sleepless nights, my dear?
Bueno, abrirán el Instituto Cervantes as if that was the solution to
anything, porque the only solution es que nos dejen tranquilo.
Si el Shoemaker no entiende any other language, why should there be
a special effort to ensure that we understand theirs? What we need
to do in our Gibraltar is to improve our English language, no solo
porque it is our language but because it is the language of the
world, the language that matters most.
So be it. Meanwhile it's cheerio to you.
And chicharros to you. |
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