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Money matters: Even the FED is worried...
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
A few things jumped out at us last week when we read the
report of the FED’s FOMC meeting last month:
“The information reviewed at the meeting suggested that the growth of
economic activity in the second quarter slowed from its rapid pace in the first
quarter. Residential investment contracted as activity in the housing market
continued to cool. Consumer spending and business investment decelerated after
posting substantial increases in the first quarter. The demand for labor
moderated, with hiring in recent months below the pace of earlier this year.”
Things are slowing - if this moderation had happened when the US economy was
moderately leveraged, it would have been good news - the problem now is how to
deal with slowdown in the face of such a massive debt burden. The equity markets
response has simply been to look at the headline; i.e., that this removes the
pressure for further interest rate hikes, and somehow they see this as being
conducive to a soft landing. The bond markets - where rather more profound
economic wisdom tends to reside is, on the other hand, extremely cognisant of
the two likeliest scenarios:
- An extremely prolonged period of economic discomfort while the US and other
leveraged economies (the US is by no means an isolated case in this respect,
it’s just by far the biggest and the most extreme example) re-dress their
imbalances. It takes a long time to chip away at this level of debt while all
the time interest is accruing.
- A shorter but far sharper shock - perhaps the most severe global recession in
the living memory of anyone aged below 70. This would allow the system to
eradicate the debt more quickly but corporate failures, personal bankruptcies
and asset repossessions would be all too common place.
We don’t know which of these scenarios is the most likely to transpire, but we
believe that we are now at the very beginning of this process. Further evidence
to support this emerged from the US labour markets:
“...moderation in hiring was most pronounced in retail trade but was also
evident in construction and non-business services. Establishments in
professional and business services continued to add jobs at roughly the same
pace as that of earlier in the year. Average hours of production or
nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls edged up. The unemployment
rate rose to 4.8 percent in July, above its average over the first half of the
year.”
Remembering that manufacturing in the US is virtually non-existent compared
to historical levels and therefore retail and construction are the main
indicators of the ‘real economy’, employment in ‘actual’ sectors fell although
the impact was disguised by the service sectors. However, service sectors have
to service something - or as one of our people is fond of saying “when the hog’s
dead and gone, there’s nowhere for the ticks to live any more”. The hog seems to
be incurably ill right now...
The final nail in the coffin seems to be the decline in consumer and business
spending:
“...consumer spending slowed considerably in the second quarter after the
surge in purchases around the turn of the year... gains in real disposable
income were held down by rising consumer prices... While past gains in household
wealth, particularly from home prices, supported consumer spending, higher
interest rates and energy prices were likely a restraining influence...
Residential construction activity contracted in the second quarter...
Single-family starts declined in June to a level well below the average of the
previous twelve months... Sales of both new and existing single-family homes
slowed in June and were significantly below their peaks of the summer of 2005...
Available measures of house prices indicated that price increases had moderated
over the past four quarters... After surging in the first quarter, real spending
on equipment and software edged down in the second quarter... The decline was
accounted for primarily by a drop in expenditures on communications and
transportation equipment.”
But the news that really hurt is that, despite this, the trade balance
worsened...
“The U.S. international trade deficit widened in May, reflecting a sharp
increase in imports that more than offset a sizable gain in exports. Import
growth was heavily concentrated in oil, reflecting both higher prices and
quantities; other categories of imports fell on balance.”
Amazingly, to us, the market has read the data as being supportive and the
FOMC even had one dissident voice, Lacker, who is still more concerned about
inflation than about recession. How anyone can take either of those views is
beyond us - the report itself stated:
“The staff forecast prepared for this meeting indicated that real GDP growth
would slow in the second half of 2006 and 2007, and to a lower rate than had
been anticipated in the prior forecast. The marking down of the outlook was
largely attributable to the annual revision of the national income and product
accounts, which involved downward revisions to actual GDP growth in prior years
and prompted reductions in the staff’s estimate of potential output. The
slowdown in the housing market, the effects of higher energy prices on household
purchasing power, the waning impetus of household wealth effects on consumer
spending, and the effects of past policy tightening were expected to hold
economic growth below potential over the next six quarters... In their
discussion of the major sectors of the economy, participants noted that
residential construction activity had continued to recede over the past few
months and cited the housing sector as a downside risk to the outlook for
growth. The rate of new home sale cancellations, which was identified as an
important leading indicator by some contacts in the construction industry, had
spiked higher. Single-family housing starts and permits continued to fall, and
inventories of unsold housing appeared to have risen significantly, pointing to
continued slowing in this sector. Some participants observed that the slowing
seemed to be orderly thus far, but it was also noted that in some areas of the
country housing construction had experienced a relatively sharp fall. In
general, participants expressed considerable uncertainty regarding prospects for
the housing sector... Meeting participants noted that the continued increases in
energy prices and borrowing costs appeared to have restrained consumer spending
growth in recent months. Contacts in the retail sector generally reported a
continued slowing of growth in sales, although the situation differed somewhat
by region and type of good or service. Reliable, comprehensive data were not yet
available on recent house price movements, but the rate of appreciation appeared
to be moderating and was likely to slow further in coming months. The slower
pace of increase in housing wealth would restrain consumption growth, though by
how much was uncertain... The full effect of previous increases in interest
rates on activity and prices probably had not yet been felt, and a pause was
viewed as appropriate...”
The reason that Mr. Lacker dissented was because he believed that further
tightening was needed to bring inflation down more rapidly than would be the
case if the policy rate were kept unchanged. He’s in for a heck of a surprise
before too much longer.
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The above data and research was compiled from sources believed to be
reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its officers can accept
any liability for any errors or omissions in the above article nor bear any
responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any actions taken or not
taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For more information please
contact Graham Macdonald on [email protected]
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Snap Shots: Rita Hayworth and Fahreda Mahzar Spyropolos
by Harry Flashman
 Was
Rita Hayworth the first pin-up? The answer is a most emphatic no! The
honor for this goes to Fahreda Mahzar Spyropolos. The redoubtable Miss
Fahreda was the star of the Chicago Fair of 1893, where she showed her
navel to a disbelieving public, amid outcries from assorted horrified
clerics.
Miss Fahreda is also better remembered by her stage name of Little
Egypt. In fact, her anatomical bits managed to change the fair from
downright flop to financial success. That, and the calls for her to be
shut down for her lewd antics, brought millions of people to the fair.
The media also knew that ‘sex sells’ even way back then. This was not
something that Rupert Murdoch and his page 3 girls started, no matter
how much the Murdoch publicity machine would have you think. The New
York Police Gazette (now there’s a catchy title – sorry about the pun!)
began publishing illustrated supplements of actresses and dancers in the
1890’s and even offered “cabinet-sized finished photographs” described
as the snappiest of all girl pictures.
And then there was “Photo Bits” – an English magazine started in 1898,
which became Photo Fun in 1908 to run double page pin-ups, copies of
which could be purchased for nine pence (including postage) and were
advertised as being suitable for billiard or smoking rooms.
However, it was the “feelthy postcards” that really brought the pin-up
to pride of place on the locker room wall. It was the French who did all
the running. Seeing the success of postcard pictures of the Eiffel
Tower, enterprising photographers began in earnest that most noble of
artistic pursuits - persuading young ladies to pose in their pink
one-buttons.
In the years before WWI, the ideal females to parade in front of the
photographer’s lens were big hunks of women with large bellies and legs
that looked as if they would hold up billiard tables. Strong and well
rounded, to say the least. However, although the modesty was starting to
disappear, the neck to knee flesh coloured “tights” were still de rigeur
for anything other than the true ‘nude study’ which was called ‘art’. A
bit of chiffon and a rose was all that was needed to elevate the naughty
nude to an artistic study, incidentally, both being props still in use
today!
Burlesque shows were also getting racier, with some naked bosoms
appearing at the Ziegfeld Follies and then some even more revealing
strippers were making their way on to the stages. In their wake, pin-ups
of the performers were sold at the intermission, but again they were
very unrevealing. If you thought that these burlesque shows were just a
minor part of life in those days, think again. As many as 15,000
applicants each year would come and parade before Florenz Ziegfeld
hoping to become a part of the Ziegfeld Follies.
Times were a changing, as the song goes, and the world fairs produced
their own little bits of public nudity, or apparent nudity. Similar to
Little Egypt, forty years previously, the famous Sally Rand and her Fan
Dance, excited the visitors to the 1933 Chicago Exposition, and she was
very much photographed, but even those with a magnifying glass were
foiled by her multitude of ostrich feathers. And as before, the shows
brought the wrath of the clerics from their pulpits of purity.
By the mid ‘30’s the movie industry was in full swing with thousands of
hopeful starlets, each ready to display a little more for the camera
lens, in order to catch the eye of a producer. But even these pin-up
shots were still undergoing censorship. Theda Bara, one of the stars of
the day being photographed covered in pearls – but having no belly
button! Navels were taboo. No wonder Little Egypt had been such a
success! The burlesque girls even wore little umbilicus protectors, as
well as nipple pasties and G strings.
The next earth shattering leap forward for the pin-up was in the form of
yet another war (when will they ever learn, as Peter, Paul and Mary were
to sing). WWII did bring the pin-ups for the soldier far from home, and
the Americans did this well. This in turn produced Hugh Hefner and the
centerfold, and the age of the ‘serious’ glamour photographers was upon
us.
Modern Medicine: Digging your grave with your teeth
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
It is often said by those who should know better, “You are
what you eat.” This is of course, total nonsense. Do vegetarians turn into
carrots? Obviously not. However, the shape you present to the outside world
does depend upon what you eat.
Diets run the whole gamut of extremes from the Israeli Army diet where you
eat nothing but bananas and sand, to others put forward by multi-level
marketers where you drink three sachets of expensive powdered goop every day
that promises to get the weight off you in one week. Or perhaps slightly
longer, but just buy more sachets.
My favorite fat lady weighed 22 stone (150 kg give or take a little) and
lived in Gibraltar. We had to use two scales to weigh her, standing there
with one foot on each. When I suggested she could perhaps be eating a little
too much, she replied “Me no como nada por dos annos.” (I have eaten nothing
for two years.) If she were telling the truth, I shudder to think about what
she weighed before!
I hear much from fat people about their “bad metabolism” and how lucky thin
people are to have a “good metabolism”. Other than in a few spectacularly
rare endocrine diseases, “bad metabolism” is not to blame for the shapes of
99.999 percent of fat people. Sorry to explode the myth. However, metabolism
is involved in the fat cycle.
What you have to learn is simply “Input exactly equals Output, plus or minus
what goes into store”. That goes for you, my fat lady in Gibraltar, the
skinny kid on the street corner and even your dog.
It means that the energy source (food and drink) equals the energy output
(physical and mental effort), plus or minus what is stored (or removed) from
your body as fat. This equation is independent of whatever you call the
energy, be that kilojoules or calories or sugarlumps.
In simple terms, if the Input and Output are the same - then your weight
stays the same, as zero goes into or comes out of the storage fat. If the
Input is greater than the Output, you have an excess and that goes into
store and you put on weight. If the Input is less than the Output, then you
are in a deficit, the body makes up the energy levels it needs by burning up
fat from the store, so you lose weight. Honestly, it is that simple.
If you really want to lose weight, I present the well tried, proven and
effective diet that I have modestly called the Dr. Corness 75 percent diet.
(Others do this for their diets, why shouldn’t I do it for mine?) This diet
is guaranteed, it will get the weight off, and keep it off and you do not
have to count one calorie or kilojoule or sugarlump. If by following this
diet you have not lost weight after four weeks, write to me and I will write
back and tell you that you are a liar. That is my guarantee!
This simple diet works by decreasing your input by 25 percent. In other
words you can have 75 percent of what you would normally eat and drink every
day. If you have four cream buns a day, you can have three! If you eat a
kilo of beef every night, you can have three quarters of a kilo. That’s
right, you don’t need to deny yourself anything!
Of course, if you want to really ensure there is a deficit, you can always
increase the Output at the same time. A daily walk that you didn’t do
before, or even a walk around your office block at lunchtime all helps.
The only downside to this diet is that you will not see instant results, and
you will feel hungry for a few days. The reason for this is that the storage
fat has to chemically change into ‘energy’ fat before it can make up the
deficit, and this takes a few days. Your body will not automatically do this
either, until you are in the deficit situation. After a week you don’t
notice it, and after a fortnight you will see the weight loss happening.
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
Nothing’s changed: Woman of Bangkok is still the best book written about
Thailand.
Cheers,
Jason Schoonover
Dear Jason,
My Petal! I’m blown away! Hillary gets a letter from a real author. A really
famous author who has written Thai Gold and Opium Dream, both super-action
novels! For those who missed the Hillary action over the past few weeks,
there has been discussion that centered around the fact that newbies to
Thailand should be forced to read some sort of manual before being allowed
loose on the bars. One writer, Art, suggested the book “Woman of Bangkok”
which had been recommended to him some years ago by Jason Schoonover, whilst
I suggested Private Dancer by Stephen Leather. Jason Schoonover gets the
last word, however (see above). Now the difficulty is finding a copy, as
apparently it has been out of print for many years. Perhaps all the beer
bars clubbed together and bought the entire stock and burned them? Or maybe
even TAT? If anyone has a copy I will get our book reviewer Lang Reid to
give it his critique. By the way, he enjoyed the Schoonover books which were
reviewed three or four years ago.
Dear Hillary,
You have probably heard this hundreds of times and may be able to help me in
this problem I have. On my last trip to Pattaya I fell in love with a most
beautiful girl from a bar and against all the advice given by “old hands” I
gave her money to set her up in a house, which had to be in her name as it
could not be done in mine. I felt we had the makings of a perfect match and
she was so attentive to me I could not believe my luck. I had to do
everything quickly as I was only here for three weeks. At the first
opportunity to return for a quick trip I went to surprise her and found out
that she was living there with some German guy and had been for some time!
Should I ask her to return the money? I feel totally cheated and I think it
will be some time before I fall in love again, especially with a Thai girl.
Cheated Charlie
Dear Cheated Charlie,
You must really stop and take this opportunity to decide just who cheated
who, here. You were here for three weeks and bought some girl you did not
really know, a house? Is this reasonable behaviour? Is this rational
behaviour? You threw your money away, my Petal. She did not rob you - you
robbed yourself. Next time, think twice, or in your case, think two hundred
times. Perhaps you might even listen to the old hands too. Sorry, Charlie,
but you had it coming.
Dear Hillary,
I refuse to believe that there are guys so hopeless that they end up as sex
slaves to these Thai bar girls. I live here with my Thai girlfriend who I
met in a bar, so I know the way things really are. None of my mates have
ended up this way. Sure they come over, enjoy themselves and go home with
wonderful memories, but they’re not sending money back over here to the
girls they met and stayed with on their holidays. No motorcycles or houses
up country. That’s why I think these letters are made up.
Doubting Thomas
Dear Doubting Thomas,
Made up? Do you think I made up Jason Schoonover too, Petal? Come on, I’d
get my bottom sued off if I did something like that. The sketch that you
believe does not happen is unfortunately one that is true and happens every
day. Your mates, as you call them, must be very well seasoned travelers not
to get caught up with our local ladies, who can put life in a damp
dishcloth. Or maybe they are just “Keeneow” (stingy). There is a complete
economy out there that depends on people such as your mates, or my letter
writers, even down to the chaps who write the begging letters for these
girls. There are books available in the bars with sample letters for them to
copy out. Better believe, Thomas, better believe.
Dear Hillary,
Why is the Thai govermint (sic) sensorring (sic) the movies on TV? They cut
sexy bits out of the movies so much it is imposible (sic) to follow what is
going on. They put stupid squares over cigarettes, but it is easy to see
what it is, with smoke and all. They put the same thing over guns. Who are
they fooling? Everybody knows so why bother? You know why, Hillary?
Not Fooled
Dear Not Fooled,
Hillary is not the one to ask, Petal. I agree that it is easy to see what is
happening in the movie. Perhaps somebody’s relatives needed a job, so they
were put in charge of popping pixels over pictures. Though I do believe in
some censorship, it is a matter of degree. I am more upset by the language
that is used in movies screened at peak times than I am in pretending the
hero is not smoking or about to blow his brains out. However, when I read
your letter and see all the spelling mistakes, perhaps you should spend more
time with the books than you do in front of the TV set. Some books even have
naughty bits! You never know your luck.
A Female Perspective: Ferocious women
with Sharona Watson
There are a number of women I know who strike fear into the hearts of men.
No nonsense, ‘don’t take the BS’ girls who tell it how it is. By the way,
(believe it or not) I don’t put myself in this category. I’m talking about
hard core ball breakers who can turn a man into a whimpering, cowering jelly
in seconds.
 Don’t
mess with the ‘MD’
I’m lucky to count many of these kind of women among my friends and I have
to admit, I find them amusing. I love the way they refuse to accept any kind
of prejudice or discrimination and never miss an opportunity to make an
issue out of something important. They’re a special breed.
Now, I bet that many men reading this have a ready made image of ferocious
women, a stock mental picture of the physical appearance which goes with
this kind of character. They probably think of them as squat, fat, wobbly
women with faces like rusting refrigerators marked with a permanent scowl;
devious, unpleasant people who think that ethics are rooms at the top of
houses. Well, sorry to disappoint, but there is no ‘one shape fits all’. In
fact I’d like to paint a different picture of the kind of ferocious women
I’m talking about.
I’m talking about women who love being themselves; women who have developed
a sense of independence through their education and experience. I’m talking
about wise women, who are prepared to make a principled stand when there is
a matter of social justice at stake. I’m talking about clever women, whose
most powerful weapon is their razor sharp tongue, who base their views on
facts rather than fiction. I’m talking about women who won’t allow their
friends to be downtrodden. I’m talking about women who know exactly what
they want from men and how to get it. Let’s face it, there are very few men
who are ready and willing to be treated in the same way as they treat women.
Even in terms of seduction, many men seem to be very uncomfortable when it’s
the women making the moves.
One woman I know who fits my description is a great friend of mine, called
Anne. I feel particularly close to her for many reasons, one of which is
that my husband is absolutely terrified of her. So much so, that he calls
her ‘Mad Dog’. Once, when she and her family were staying with us, Anne
launched into a tirade against Andy, for insisting that her child say,
‘please’ before he’d give him ice cream. The child had run off screaming to
find his mum and you could see my husband quaking in his slippers. The
rights and wrongs of the incident I don’t intend to discuss but it all ended
with Andy apologising to Anne!
The thing about Anne is that when you need her, she’s there and she looks
after you. When my youngest daughter was born, my husband was abroad,
working. I was alone in London and even though I’d given birth before, let
me tell you, it was a scary business. When my waters broke, I had no means
of transport and my close and extended family were all, coincidentally, out.
I was panicking and about to call an ambulance but instead, I called Anne
and she calmed me down right away. She dropped everything, pulled her
partner away from his work and rushed around to where I was staying. She was
reassuring but also very firm and had gone into a very determined state of
mind.
I remember thinking “great, everything will be OK now”. In the back of the
car, her partner was being especially careful not to irritate her by saying
or doing the wrong thing. At the hospital, she simply took control. I felt a
little bit sorry for the nurses and the doctor when she issued a series of
instructions in such a way that didn’t invite any discussion. She wasn’t
rude or patronizing, just very, very firm. It helps of course, that she
knows her stuff. Nobody was going to be allowed to inject me with pethadine
without her say so. In child birth, it’s very important (as any mother will
tell you) to try and relax as much as possible, even when the contractions
are coming every minute or so and the pain is indescribable (I’ll try – it’s
like someone is pulling your bones apart from inside).
Anne was great. She was encouraging when it was necessary and strong when
she needed to be. When I told her I didn’t want to give birth anymore and
just wanted to go home, she told me to “shut up and stop being so stupid”.
When it was all over, they tried to put me in a ward full of screaming newly
born babies and I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep if I stayed there. Anne read
my thoughts and just told the porters to turn the trolley around. I ended up
in a private room. I could cry for all the strength and love Anne showed me
that day. When I called Andy to tell him that he was a father again, I said
I wanted to name our newly born daughter after her. “I’m not calling her
‘Mad Dog’!” he exclaimed.
The thing about Anne is that beneath her ferociousness is a generous, loving
heart. It’s true that she is what men like to call a ‘feminist’ but I don’t
really approve of that term. She just sticks up for what is right. She does
it at work; at one firm they called her ‘The General’ (after General de
Gaulle - she’s French) and she does it at home. Her partner is the one who
stays at home and looks after their son. He’s also the one who saved my
husband’s life when Anne found an email from Andy referring to the ‘MD’.
“What does ‘MD’ stand for, exactly,” Anne inquired, with appropriate
suspicion. “Oh, er, Managing Director, my love. Of course. Managing
Director”.
Next week: Eating Pies
[email protected]
Learn to Live to Learn: Back in the Swing of Things
by Andrew Watson
It
usually takes a bit of time to readjust to a familiar environment, when
you’ve been away for any length of time. Nonetheless, it’s reassuring to
find things more or less as you left them, even if that includes finding
that the work you should have done before you left, hasn’t gone away.
This sensation is certainly applicable to schools, with their cavernous
vacations. Classrooms are left largely abandoned for anything up to eight
weeks - about a sixth of a year. Quite apart from raising questions about
efficient use of expensively built and maintained infrastructure, extensive
holidays render the teacher’s lot in harsher relief.
Most international school contracts stipulate a work requirement of 180 days
a year for expatriate staff, almost exactly half a year. Suddenly, the job
seems part-time. Considered from this perspective, it seems extraordinary
that teaching and learning happens to the extent which (hopefully) it does.
Traditionally (and this has certainly been borne out by my experience)
teachers don’t exactly hang around after the end of term. They’re off like a
shot - on the international circuit they’ll be travelling on free flights
around the globe and don’t expect to see many of them return much earlier
than a week before the new term begins, when they’ll start picking through
the pieces of the previous academic year. Good luck to ‘em!
There’s no question that the length of school holidays is one of the major
reasons for people arriving in the teaching profession, which is actually a
little bizarre, if you think about it - doing a job because of the amount of
time you can spend not doing it. Of course it’s also true that you can
accomplish a remarkable amount even in such a short space of time. However,
for some essential people working in a school, holidays don’t happen in
quite the same way.
In most of the schools I have worked in, it is the administrative office
staff who are chiefly responsible for the smooth and efficient running of a
school. They seem to do most of the work, yet get none of the rewards and
hardly any of the benefits. Rarely have I witnessed teachers, students or
parents taking the time, as they rush through the door on the last day, to
acknowledge the people who are not going on holiday.
Conditions of employment for personal assistants, office staff, the
caretaker, security guards, cleaners and even locally employed teaching
staff, are entirely different and considerably less generous than those of
expatriate teachers. Yet these are the people who hold the school together.
Teachers, students, managers come and go (sometimes with alarming frequency,
sometimes not often enough) whilst the administrative office staff seem to
stay the same. Often local people, they are the glue that holds the school
community together and in my experience, they are never fully appreciated.
They are the face of the school, the first point of contact, catching the
flack of irate parents, yet invariably responding with grace and a smile.
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat office staff.
Regrettably, some managers and teachers seem to regard them as dogsbodies,
as servants to complete the tasks that they are simply too lazy to carry out
themselves. There was a trumped up mini-bureaucrat I once knew, who spent as
much time as possible trying to get other people to do his work for him.
Farcically, I think he thought that this was what ‘managing’ meant. He
seemed to think that the lady at the front office, who was wonderful, was
never busy enough and he’d flippantly cast menial jobs in her direction,
often at the last minute because he’d forgotten about them himself.
He spent most of the day wandering around the school with a notebook, whilst
occasionally, he would slip out of school and nip off for a cheeky round of
golf - in school time! His only commitment was to self-aggrandisement and
delegation. Although to be fair, he had almost perfected the art of blaming
others for things that went wrong and was quite adroit at sticking the knife
in someone’s back, but only (brave little man that he was) after they’d left
the school.
As ever, the kids in the school had him tagged. They knew what he was up to.
They called him ‘Dice-Head’ (six faces) and the name stuck. Someone would go
out of their way to do him a favour one week and he’d be slagging them off
the next. He also managed to fiddle his contractual details to include a
bogus destination as his ‘home airport’. Usually, flights are provided to
and from your country of origin, but the unscrupulous teacher will try and
fiddle this and give a destination further a field, in order to grab a bit
more cash. Being a member of a ‘clique’ is a good way to achieve this
objective. They have no shame! But I digress.
In some schools, senior managers have different conditions; four weeks
holiday a year, for instance, as opposed to about twelve. In one school
where I was a senior manager, I found I couldn’t afford to take more than a
couple of weeks off in the summer. There was just too much to be done and
too much that I wanted to achieve and the only space I could find to do it
(which I had craved all year but which had been denied me) was the summer.
If a manager is to lead by example, then I don’t think they should have the
same holidays as their staff.
I loved what I was doing. I think you have to. I am always dismayed when I
hear tales of managers in education who clearly don’t love the job, just the
cash, conditions and the kudos. You can spot them; they’ll take the full
twelve weeks a year holiday, throw in a few junkets for themselves in school
time and start counting the days until the next vacation. And when the days
are too many, they’ll count in weeks. The question that always springs to my
mind in such cases is one that I’m sure all teachers have had cause to ask
at one time or another; “How did you get to be a Head?”
Next week: Hello Mr. Chips
[email protected]
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