Comedian Phil Evans is from Ammanford. He is known as the man who puts the ‘cwtsh’ into comedy. Website – www.philevans.co.uk
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TIME FOR A MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION:
DITCH THAT MOBILE PHONE!
I can’t be the only one who’s noticed what can best be described as a modern ‘phenomenon’, for want of a better word*
*If you do want a better word, I have loads. But they’re stored in a lock-up on an industrial estate outside Neath and I can’t remember what I’ve done with the key.
What’s the phenomenon I’m talking about?
The proliferation (now there’s a much betterword. It must have escaped through the bullet hole in the lock-up door. Don’t ask!) of young mums around the streets and shopping centres, wheeling their state-of-the-art strollers/buggies/travel systems.
Push chairs have so many different names these days.
I have my own special name whenever one runs over my foot.
As you might expect, these new mums continually look downwards adoringly, engrossed to the point of complete absorption in the magical, marvellous, new acquisition in front of them.
No. Not their offspring!
Their mobile phones!
No wonder the NHS is strapped for cash.
They must hand out a free phone to every new mother when she leaves hospital.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve had to walk into the road or duck into a shop doorway to avoid an advancing buggy being haphazardly steered by a young woman resting her arms on the buggy’s handle, as she texts or reads those sent to her, oblivious to other pedestrians.
However, more importantly – and this infuriates me – is that they also seem oblivious to their precious child and more interested in the texts they’re sending to and receiving from friends.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture these friends in another street or shopping centre, also pushing a buggy and ignoring their toddlers.
Some people say they remember being in their pram, looking up to see their mother’s face.
There’s a generation growing up now who’ll only recall looking up from their ‘advanced travel system’ to see the back of a smart phone.
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Congestion and the blocked up feeling:
Traffic jams and potholes in our towns and cities at the moment are causing so much stress and frustration that even playing Buddhist meditation music in the car while driving won’t help reduce our blood pressure.
Everywhere we go, we currently face these obstacles on a daily basis – and it doesn’t seem to be improving any day soon.
So what is the answer?
Even if we use public transport, the same challenges are faced.
It’s got to the point that I’m now thinking that ‘by pass roads’ are the answer.
But where does that leave our towns and villages if we are driving around the outside of them?
Local trade would surely suffer.
Congestion and poorly maintained highways are now among the biggest complaints that our local authorities are faced with, yet the solution to the problems are a long way off.
Maybe we need to look at other countries public transport systems and why they work so well?
As for me and the town of Ammanford, the congestion issue is almost grinding the roads into the town to a halt at times and is a huge risk to road safety.
I wonder how the Dalai Lama would deal with this?
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You can follow Phil Evans on Twitter @philevanswales and www.philevans.co.uk
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