Sunday Supplement
The editor voices his views on Moray’s most topical events of the past week …..
Local Hero: Leon Mitchell
Hard as it is to avoid political comment on my weekly editorial I find myself having to force out that particular issue this week.
I detect that along with the anger felt by many over the antics in our Council chamber this last month there is also a growing apathy that it has all in some way been manufactured.
There will be time enough as our elected representatives plan to head into Christmas totally ignoring the seasonal message of peace and goodwill to all, so I’ll leave any further comment until after the combatants take the stage in their pre-festive ‘confidence vote rumble’ in a few weeks time.
Black Friday…
Had to smile at the wag who posted that while all the major UK retailers were dropping their prices by 20% or greater for ‘Black Friday’ it had been reported that BrightHouse were raising theirs by 20%.
I’ve already made it perfectly clear where my feelings are on the arrival of BrightHouse to Moray and the manner in which this store was welcomed with open arms by Elgin BID, so won’t revisit that.
I was clearly not the only one, however, who has been greatly disturbed by the whole ‘Black Friday’ concept. I have to say at the outset that I’ve no real problem with retailers slashing prices for a day – hardly a new concept no matter what they call it.
What does leave me troubled, however, is that they somehow failed to predict the utter mayhem that their approach to the sale caused. The opening their doors at midnight bit – did it not actually enter the minds of store owners planning these events that this might cause just a few safety issues?
Apparently not – and yet again it was the poor sods in uniform that were called to bail them out of trouble as the fists were flying.
Ring Hero
Talking of flying fists… regardless how you see boxing you could not fail to be impressed by the story on insideMoray this week about Elgin loon Leon Mitchell.
When he left Elgin Academy, Leon chose a career in the Army but, on joining his unit, was deemed too young to be shipped off to Afghanistan. Unperturbed Leon settled in at 4 Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Germany and took up boxing.
Seems he is a bit handy at it, emerging with a ‘best boxer in the tournament’ title.
Leon’s family and friends were clearly proud of their loon on reading his story – but there is also a lesson there for every young man or woman in Moray.
Time and again they are being warned how difficult life is after school – but as demonstrated by this young man, ‘difficulties’ can be just another word for ‘challenges’.