The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #159105   Message #3771408
Posted By: Steve Shaw
08-Feb-16 - 12:03 PM
Thread Name: BS: Beats yellow stars, I suppose!!
Subject: RE: BS: Beats yellow stars, I suppose!!
Do not accuse me of not being very bright, Michael, when you are deliberately trying to miss the point. I am talking about, in the spirit of the thread's topic, being obliged to carry documentation around with me. I have no objection to having to HAVE a bus pass, driving licence, railcard, passport, birth certificate, telly licence, Eden Project Locals' Pass, credit card, debit card, Nectar card, MyWaitrose card, or any other card or document. The address book on my iPhone instantly identifies me (my choice). If I want a particular service, such as to get into the Eden Project without having to pay extra, I expect to have to show my entitlement. But none of these items are permanently affixed to my person and I can't be arrested simply for not having them with me. That's how it should be. I may need my birth certificate to get a new passport but I don't have to carry it round with me. I don't have to show my telly licence to any old Tom, Dick, or Harry who knocks on the door asking for it. I want to see a warrant that states that I'm suspected of having an unlicensed telly first, and even then I can't be punished just because I can't find it. I don't even expect to be asked for my driving licence unless a policeman suspects me of committing a driving offence, and even then I have several days to produce it. That's what "with good reason" means, Michael, open to abuse of course, but that's the real world. I'm not going to a holiday venue that tries to force me to wear a wristband. Asylum seekers allowed into this country have a human right to receive food. We do not have the moral right to force them to wear non-removable, stigmatising, humiliating wristbands in order to receive it. They've been humiliated enough as it is. In all of this long, rambling, patient post, Michael, there are only two key words, obliged and non-removable. Try to hang on to them and act a little more bright.