I’ve always been of the mind that celebrating New Year is something of a waste of time, writes blogger David Burrows.
The fact the calendar clicks over to a new day doesn’t mean anything will be any different.
“Hope 2009’s a good one,” people say. They might as well say: “Hope June 23rd’s a good one”. That’s all it is. Another day, another week, another year on the calendar.
Tragically 2008 ended with the death of a serviceman in Afghanistan. 2009 began with another. Nothing changes.
Last year ended with companies failing and people losing their jobs. This one began with the likes of Adams in Shrewsbury and Oswestry closing and more job losses. Nothing changes.
So what, if anything, can we look forward to in 2009?
Well, there’s the celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin - arguably Shropshire’s most famous son.
I have to say I really don’t think we make enough of our historical figures.
The Darwin celebrations are typically Shropshire - rather low key and with the minimum of pomp and circumstance. And I have to say I find the fact that Shrewsbury’s only statue of Darwin is hidden away at the library - where in this internet age fewer and fewer people go - somewhat ridiculous.
An anecdote I heard about Darwin was a tale of a father and son walking up Pride Hill a couple of years ago and seeing banners advertising one of the Darwin events.Apparently the little lad asked his father: “Daddy, what did Darwin do?” His dad, after a lengthy pause, apparently replied: “He built the shopping centre.”
This may or may not be true. If it is, is it any wonder? We should be shouting from the rooftops that we gave the world Charles Darwin, rather than whispering it to those who we think might like to know.
As an Oswestry lad I feel the same way about Wilfred Owen. If you didn’t know, you’d never guess he was born in my home town.
Somehow I don’t think a couple of cul-de-sacs and a branch of Wetherspoons bearing his name really does justice to his contribution to the world of literature.
One Comment
Just cause you don’t like to celebrate the end of a year and start of a new one doesn’t mean that no one else does. what did you do then on new years eve, sit in the dark at home on your own? I can’t believe you treat it as any other day..
There are bad things happening all over the world (and always has been) but that doesn’t mean we should stop having a good time.
As for the Darwin issue if people don’t want to learn about the great people of the past then thats up to them. We can’t force them to.
Report abuse