Medal won at the swimming gala
Proud Father Alert!
Meg won a bronze medal today at the Swimming Gala!
The event was for children with special needs and involved many of the schools in the county.
As I was pulling the camera from the bag, Maggie noticed all these signs saying that before I could use photographic or video equipment of any kind I had to seek permission from the supervisor. When I found him I had to produce ID and fill in a form with my name, address, telephone number, the name of the person I was photographing and my relationship to her. Only then did I realise that I’d better not take any photos of any of the other children from Meg’s school: as I had not received written consent or requests from any of the other parents, it would breach school policy.
I find it so sad in this day and age that a father has to go through so many procedures just to take a photo of his daughter. In a less paranoid time I would have been able to take photos of everyone in the group and make copies for the school and the parents, many of whom couldn’t be there to see their sons & daughters today. I’m fortunate enough to be able to be flexible with my work patterns, but most are not.
I could get on to a large rant just now about why it is in the interests of the government and the consumer society to keep us in a permanent state of low-level anxiety, by filling our heads with the idea that the world is full of monsters and terrorists waiting to hurt the innocent, as this allows them to bring in more draconian laws and people spend more when they’re worried.
However, I’ll leave that for another day, as my overwhelming feeling at the moment is fatherly pride for my medal-winning daughter!
Meg won a bronze medal today at the Swimming Gala!
The event was for children with special needs and involved many of the schools in the county.
As I was pulling the camera from the bag, Maggie noticed all these signs saying that before I could use photographic or video equipment of any kind I had to seek permission from the supervisor. When I found him I had to produce ID and fill in a form with my name, address, telephone number, the name of the person I was photographing and my relationship to her. Only then did I realise that I’d better not take any photos of any of the other children from Meg’s school: as I had not received written consent or requests from any of the other parents, it would breach school policy.
I find it so sad in this day and age that a father has to go through so many procedures just to take a photo of his daughter. In a less paranoid time I would have been able to take photos of everyone in the group and make copies for the school and the parents, many of whom couldn’t be there to see their sons & daughters today. I’m fortunate enough to be able to be flexible with my work patterns, but most are not.
I could get on to a large rant just now about why it is in the interests of the government and the consumer society to keep us in a permanent state of low-level anxiety, by filling our heads with the idea that the world is full of monsters and terrorists waiting to hurt the innocent, as this allows them to bring in more draconian laws and people spend more when they’re worried.
However, I’ll leave that for another day, as my overwhelming feeling at the moment is fatherly pride for my medal-winning daughter!
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