Oh my goodness the wheels nearly came off Scottish island mum today. A series of events today have required me to dig deep but they have also required me to stand up for what is right. You kind of have to be in my shoes or my partner in crime Angie's shoes to know how it all felt. We are both owners of small businesses who work incredibly hard to produce handcrafted products and this year we teamed up so that we could swim with the big fish. On the whole the big fish don't make their products as they are into the buy to sell on arena. I am not saying we are better than them or that they are better than us, but we are different. So rocking up to the island's largest Christmas market does not require the same preparation. I can't comment for them but I can say that Angie and I are both living on fumes such has been the effort to be ready. Exhaustion doesn't even come close.
So today we get an email from the event organisers informing us that because other exhibitors were not happy with their location in the marquee they have moved us out to the food tent complete with bar! I don't think so. There began a battle that took most of the day to conclude for us to be finally reinstated where we were originally placed. This battle should never have taken place. If other businesses were unhappy with their allocated space that is between them and the organisers. It certainly should have involved us and the proposal that we should move out was completely outrageous. This might seem a bit trivial to anyone reading this but for me it tugs at the heart of businesses. There is a silent code of etiquette amongst small businesses and this was royally trashed this morning.
You might feel that I should be happy to be reinstated to our original position. I am happy about that but unhappy that this needed to occur at all. Angie and I are both flat out to be ready for Saturday and the stress of the day has absolutely caught up with me. There have been another couple of incidents during the day that have all added up to a tiresome day. Stuff happens and I am absolutely fine now but it does remind me of the importance of standing up for the little people. None of the island shops were removed from the gift marquee, just the two smallest companies who probably wouldn't mind. That back fired then.
I like to think that I am an understanding and compassionate person who puts the needs of others before my own. That said I am not a push over and I think that balance is important in life. Angie and I want the event to be a success for everyone and would never dream of pushing others out of the way for our own benefits. Fair play needed to be reinstated and it was but it has left its mark. I don't mean that I will carry this forward because I make a point of never carrying the past into the present or even the future. I just mean that I am completely shattered and the next two days will be a struggle now.
Beyond the testing day I have now read the entire Scottish independence white paper and I will have lots to say about it. My main response is one of disappointment. The SNP have completely missed a massive opportunity to put together a document that spells out a vision that is based in aspirational thinking but grounded in pragmatic considerations. Sadly this is a highly UK centric political document that is aimed at tactics to secure votes. What a complete shame and I have rather lost heart in their campaign.
I was hoping for a clear vision of an independent nation built on key and solid principles that placed Scotland into a new era. Instead we got a list of changes they would 'propose' to make mainly in response to policies determined by Whitehall. Huge mistake.
Scotland as an independent nation in both the European and world context has huge potential but for that potential to be realised it must first frame the debate correctly. If we are to take this drive for independence seriously we should be learning far more from other small nations who are successful and I touched on the obvious comparison with Finland yesterday. Yes, we have to work out the intricacies of a new relationship with the rest of the UK but that is a secondary concern once we have outlined a clear and convincing vision that everyone can get excited about.
It is not all doom and gloom because some of the financial model makes for interesting reading as does some of the defence section. I can completely see the good sense in a lot of that. You can't help feeling that different people wrote this document and some people got their bits right while others missed the mark completely. You will not be surprised that I am most disappointed with the education chapter. Somewhere along the line the SNP have confused education with childcare and they therefore lead their education strategy with continual references to improved childcare. They then pretty much skip compulsory education and flit into university and the need to preserve free university education in Scotland for Scottish residents. These are both good examples of vote pullers and this strategy does nothing to convince me that they understand the tensions and debates about traditional schooling models in Scotland.
The emphasis on reforms of the welfare system is about vote pulling as well. I am more interested in finding out how Scotland is going to compete on the global market. Finland had Nokia for a good while and not it has its 'angry birds'.......
Above all I felt it was a document written by the SNP for the SNP and they had become blinkered to the agenda beyond their own politics. That is party politics for you. In recent days I have seen an American teenage give a ball busting speech in the TED foundation about his own version of education, another American teenager rant about what makes good education making some excellent points and heard all about a country of five million people that punches well above its weight on the global stage. The white paper is a poor fourth in this competition to impress and I now fear the worse for the campaign. I understand that it is a paper that can launch some critical debates between now and September 2014. All I would say to the SNP is that you better start polishing up your debating skills or your campaign is well and truly over. Goodness I need a lie down.
Until tomorrow. xx
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