Hello!
Okay. I know. Not only have I not blogged for well over a month, but I didn't finish my videos about Big Brother. How pathetic I am. Suffice it to say that I was disappointed that Aaron won.
I've been so busy recently that I haven't had time to do any blogging about the most recent project I have been involved with. Those of you who live in Bristol will know that Gloucester Road is probably the most independent street in Bristol, because it is jam-packed with independent businesses. And that is what makes Gloucester Road so brilliant - because it is a haven for independent shops, and isn't crammed with lots of supermarkets and things.
Or at least, that's how it's supposed to be, because in the last couple of years, Gloucester Road has found itself playing host to Subway, Sainsbury's and - more recently - Costa Coffee. It is the Costa shop that makes me particularly angry - because they do not have planning permission. Costa applied for planning permission and were refused after a 3,800 name petition against it, but have decided to open anyway because big corporations are kind of a law unto themselves. The legal position is that because Costa is appealing, they are in effect allowed to stay open until the appeal is rejected - which I think is absolutely pathetic, but there you are.
Anyway, for the last couple of weeks, myself and several others have been involved in picketing Costa Coffee, raising awareness, getting names on our petition etc. The good thing is, it actually seems to be working. Whenever I'm there, there are always a lot more people who hang around to have a chat with us and learn more about Costa than there are people going into the shop. I don't think the shop people are very happy about this - in fact they seem to have made it their mission to be as unpleasant as they can to protesters. Today, the manager (I think his name is Richard Sharkey? I could be wrong about that) came out and tried to claim that another, independent, coffee shop had been trading illegally for three years, when in actual fact it has only been there since April, and - to the best of my knowledge - is not illegal. He also pretended that this Costa hasn't received an enforcement notice when this article begs to differ:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-16071927
I was also assaulted twice, unprovoked, by the shop's security guard. There is also a girl working there called Fran Lyons (who is actually a friend of a friend) who was surprisingly unpleasant to me. The last time I saw her working there, I asked if she was a plant, so this time I said, 'I hear that because I called you a plant, you don't want to be our inside person?' (Our mutual friend has been passing messages between us) and she hissed, 'Why would I want to be your inside person? Why should I be nice to you?' So I smiled and said, 'Because, aside from the part where I'm trying to get you out of a job, I will always be nice to you!' So that's fine. I guess I should expect this kind of behaviour from the staff, but it still makes me laugh.
I don't think that Richard, Fran and the other Costa people should underestimate me, because I'm actually very shrewd. So while I don't shout at them and I'm always polite, that does not mean that I will let them walk on me. I really care about this cause, and I feel that we are getting somewhere. So I will go on standing outside in the cold weather, smiling at people, offering them biscuits and explaining the dirty tactics Costa Coffee are pulling. This is exactly why I became a political activist in the first place - because there is a wonderful buzz to doing something to help a cause you care about, meeting cool people, and making a difference. I feel that what I am doing is making a difference, and if nothing happens, at least I know I gave it my best shot.
In other news, in ten days is my first birthday! Okay, not the actual day that I was born, obviously. I wasn't blogging that early in life. It will be my birthday in the sense that it will be a full year since I started this blog! Slightly surreal, I guess. As of today, I am bringing back 'People To Respect And Admire'. So this week it will just have to be everyone who has been alongside me in sitting outside Costa and helping us, everyone who has signed our petition, and everyone who has given kind words of support on a cold day. It means everything.
Thanks!
George
