WHERE can you perform an act of gross indecency and get someone else four months in prison and sacked? On Edinburgh's Cowgate. OK, the person getting the sack has to decide to appear to use their mobile phone to take photographs of the person committing the act. But that is basically what happened to an ambulance worker who was called to an incident in the Cowgate in February.
Now let's be absolutely clear – ambulance workers have a duty to those in their care. There is no doubt that by appearing to take a picture of the woman who decided to remove her tracksuit trousers in the back of the ambulance in order to relieve her
self, that that duty was breached. That said, there seems to be no evidence that a photograph was ever taken, although the fact that the ambulance worker made a rude comment beforehand is not in dispute. What seems disputable is that the overall result of this case is – for want of a better word – fair.
The exact details are not known but there is a certain amount of conjecture that it is surely legitimate to allow. We can assume that when the ambulance was called to deal with an apparently unconscious woman lying on the ground, that this was not a case of assault; at least no evidence is presented to suggest otherwise. So we can assume, perhaps, that this was a case of someone enjoying the hospitality of the area and collapsing thereafter. Such behaviour is a happy tradition of this habitat.
Of course, these are all assumptions. We know that Edinburgh's ambulance workers and police – many of whom might suggest that there are many better uses of their time – spend a fair amount of resources mopping up the drunken idiots who populate late-night central Edinburgh. We know that all of us – even perhaps ambulance workers – get fed up having to deal with the worst parts of our job and we know that the worst parts of an Edinburgh ambulance worker's job are far, far worse than the worst parts imaginable of our own. You have to press send on an e-mail to the wrong person an awful lot of times to get close to what it must be like to arrive at a bad car accident.
And while we cannot know for sure, we can imagine that if you spend a fair amount of time dealing with unfortunate victims of tragic accidents, it might just might start to grind after a while when you have to turn up and deal with sad, pathetic drunks who, when offered the hospitality of your vehicle after being found in a drunken stupor on the pavement, offer to thank you by volunteering a friendly poop for the ambulance.
As for the supposed photograph, there are and have been campaigns aimed at bringing an element of sobriety to the streets that use just such photographs. The ambulance worker can't claim to have been playing his part. But the fact that he will lose his job, has been sent to prison for four months, and will undoubtedly suffer much for his actions simply seems unfair. What has happened to the "victim"? How has she suffered as a result of her night out? Let's hope there has been some reformation, and something good to show, for this sad, tawdry affair.
Sit down protest?THE council appears to have given critics an early Christmas present by planning to spend £112,000 on refurbishing some historic furniture. How easy to say what a waste of money! How insightful to point out that the quality of their seats probably won't affect the quality of their decisions. The thing is, it's not their furniture; it's ours, it belongs to the people of Edinburgh. This furniture is an asset, plain and simple. All that matters is that the procedure to refurbish it is both appropriate and cost-effective. Or do we just want to stop spending on city assets just because it allows cheap political point-scoring?
Dining at top tableTHERE are many possible uses for pavements. Facilitating the transport of pedestrians is one of them. As a resting place for drunken idiots should not be another. But a location for civilised, outdoor dining is undoubtedly a fine, progressive one. Thank goodness the council has seen the light and permitted premises to serve customers until reasonable, late-night times. Of course, whether one wishes to sit outdoors on rainy night while surrounded by screaming drunks is debatable. But let's be clear – the problem is the screaming drunks, not the tables and chairs.
