Anyone remember shouting “fainites” in the school playground? For those that don’t, it was a sort of truce call, where you could choose to opt out of a game or even a fight. I think I may have tried to use it to avoid eating beetroot at one point. I believe the term was used mainly in the South, so I am curious to know if you had a different version. To be fair for years I thought it was ‘vaynights’!
Wouldn’t it be nice if the whole world could all shout FAINITES and have a real ceasefire – not like the one in Syria where over 100 people were still killed during the ‘truce’ but a proper “Pipes of Peace” John Lewis-style Christmas one. I will never get my head around the fact that some people think violence and terror is a path to peace, and I truly pity anyone that does. It is like an ugly Olympic torch being passed continuously around the globe. What gives anyone the right to take another person’s life or destroy a neighboring country’s livelihood? There is no eye for an eye in my household (although I do live alone…)
The latest attack in Brussels is absolutely horrid, but for some reason it gets far more media coverage than attacks happening outside the Western World. Just this month, there have been two separate terrorist attacks in Turkey: one last Sunday in Istanbul, and another a few days before that in the city of Ankara. Last month, terrorist group Boko Haram brutally attacked a village in Nigeria and killed at least 65 people, injuring more than 130. We all know this is not a new thing and has been going on for centuries, so should we just learn to be more accepting of it as another fact of life? I do think it is time we stop giving the Daesh bullies so much attention. As the glorification of their destruction is what they are hoping for when killing innocent people, isn’t it?
And really they are small fry in comparison to the amount of people we manage to kill amongst ourselves. The number of homicides in LA County in 2015 was 654 according to the LA Times, while a CNN graph depicting gun deaths on US soil from 2001-2013 puts the number at 406,496 compared to 3380 from terror attacks. So perhaps we should be more concerned about domestic terror rather than foreign terror … or even better lets just Keep Calm and Carry On…or try shouting #Fainites.
Excuse me a moment whilst I file my name change to Debbie Downer.
Can we make a pact that for every atrocity that occurs, that we then balance it out by doing something really nice and start spreading a little happiness please?
Perhaps this will cheer some of you up….Craig and I are hosting the pub quiz at the Pikey on March 29th…….we really are but I have even better news for you: Samanta Fox is coming to town and you can meet her. The former page 3 icon and singer will be at the ‘Hollywood Show’ in April alongside the likes of the Fonz and Stepfanie Powers. The show runs from April 8th to 10th and tickets are available online at www.hollywoodwoodshow.com. Don’t forget to use the special discount code HD04AA.
If that news doesn’t make you feel better, perhaps this will; our great discounts with Air New Zealand have now been extended through to the end of the year and work on flights to and from the UK, plus Australia and New Zealand too! If you need a reminder of the codes you can drop us a line at britsinla@gmail.com or visit us on Facebook.
If you have any questions or comments or want to attend one of our upcoming events feel free to drop me a line at eileen@Britsin.LA and don’t be apprehensive about coming along alone as you will be made very welcome. You don’t have to be British you just have to like us!
Cheers!
Eileen
