The good weather has induced such rapid growth in our plants that Nosher and I have been celebrating our first strawberries of the year - and very tasty they were too. Can't beat home-grown produce.
Meanwhile, the world moves on.
Our lunchtime chat centred on the jailing of a mother in Devon for allowing her teenage child to play truant from school, despite three previous court appearances.
'It's always been the case that useless parents negatively affect the life of their offspring' observed Nosher as he sipped his chilled parsnip wine.
We were sitting, as usual, in our old deckchairs in the shade of his dilapidated allotment shed.
'Given the cost of keeping an inmate in jail, one might have thought it more cost-effective to impose compulsory parenting classes instead' I remarked.
'And if that failed, society would still have to stump up for a jail term' Nosher objected.
'Jail solves nothing' I replied 'other than giving the miscreant a sense of victimisation by society. The important thing is to give the children a fair chance of doing well, not writing them off along with their useless parent or parents. If compulsory parenting included, for example, the parent having to attend school with the child, then a clear signal is being given out that school matters, and it's not about sending people to jail but about giving kids the chance of a better life.'
'I think you're in danger of becoming a misty-eyed do-gooder' said Nosher 'some people are beyond help and will mess up their lives whatever is done to help them - they'll squander all the resources given them without so much as a "thank you" and vociferously demand more. Best thing is to abandon them to their fate and focus efforts on those who do want to better themselves.'
'Don't you think you're being a little too cynical about this?' I asked.
'Maybe' said Nosher 'but you can't make a purse out of a sow's ear.'
'The problem is telling in advance which children are going to turn out to be sow's ears' I replied 'I think society owes them a duty of care, at least until they're adults.'
'You may be right' said Nosher 'but at the same time someone has to decide what's worth spending limited resources on, so they're not squandered on complete wasters.'
More from http://www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com/ soon.
Find out more at http://www.paulsturdee.co.uk/
and http://www.pgsbbooks.co.uk/
Paul Sturdee's book Is God a Terrorist? is available from all good booksellers. Please support your local bookshop - if you don't, it may not be there next time you visit!
If you have any difficulties obtaining a copy, contact the PGS Books website.
Happy gardening to you all!
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