A very scary Halloween

 Sunday we went to see the MiL.  Nothing unusual about this.  We put her recycling out and emptied the condenser in her tumble dryer.  I took a look around the garden where this week her gardener had shredded a load of branches and cleared a good space up.  She was in relatively good form.  Feeling a little better physically than she has of late but saying the Government ‘be prepared’ thing was making her a little anxious.  This is primarily since whenever she looks at her phone or tablet something flashes up (that isn’t water or tinned food) suggesting she needs to buy it to ‘be prepared’.  As with most of us she is not sure what she is supposed to be preparing for exactly.  

Leaving that to one side, however, she then let slip that the guy who came to collect the shredder, from the hire company, collapsed on the lawn, doubled up in agony, having a heart attack.  Thankfully, both her gardener and a neighbour were round at the time and apparently the poor bloke told them to call his company.  Rather contrary to what most of us might expect (and very probably due to the distances involved in this particular scenario) they arrived (“instantly” according to the MiL) and got him to hospital more quickly than any ambulance was ever likely to.  

I don’t know him and have no idea how he is doing but that is one total stranger to pray for if ever there was one. 

We were both sympathetic as, even as a witness, this must have been really rather upsetting for the MiL.  It was, however, possibly good we went to see her in the morning as by Sunday evening we had news from my colleagues that eclipsed that (obviously for the MiL as a bystander, not for the poor man having the heart attack).  

Shortly after lunch my WhatsApp feed was buzzing with recommendations for upping security on our iPhones.  A colleague, who is related to a couple of other colleagues, was mugged for their phone,  post a Halloween party, by a stereotypical hoodied gang.  Candy clearly was not on the menu and they took a punch to the face during this attack.  Having a very sensible head on their shoulders they accepted the loss of the iPhone and were grateful for nothing more serious than a punch (like that’s not bad enough!) and a bit of bruised pride.  

Mopping up after the theft of a phone is not exactly straightforward, especially for 20 somethings who live their life by and through them.  Who am I trying to kid, much of my life is on my phone these days!  Some aspects are now a little more protected than they were or I like to think they are.  I followed the advice we were given by a family who, whilst known as being very pragmatic, were clearly a little dazed by events, trying to manage the fall out and prevent the rest of us experiencing quite the same level of inconvenience, should a similar situation befall us.

One might have hoped that’s where we ended the weekend’s issues but no.  We are a small outfit, I’m not talking a multi national/international organisation here, and yet there was more just within our own department.

A colleague’s ex-wife had been at home when 5 masked men smashed through the french windows/bi-fold doors, put a knife to her throat and demanded to know where the safe and valuables were.  It is a little unclear exactly whose home they thought they were breaking into.  This is not a footballer’s pad.  As I understand it there is no safe, nor was there, and the jewellery and watches they did get are probably worth less than the doors they smashed.  So while the rest of us were busy putting in place Face ID/additional 2 stage notification on individual apps on our phones, he was busy trying to bolster household security for his ex and the adult child still based with her.  Might take her a while before she feels safe at home again!

I’d like to think that we have all improved, at least, our digital security, albeit in an after the horse has bolted, for some, kind of way.  Realistically, however, we’re all only too well aware that there isn’t much anyone can do when faced with a determined, tooled up, gang.  

The world of my youth was a rather gentler place and seems ever increasingly distant.