Put your feet in other people’s shoes

I couldn’t decide what to write about this week. It was either going to be the scandalous targeting of vulnerable people by national and international charities or the supposed ban on flat shoes at Cannes.

One is tragic, the other pathetic.

So I decided to write about both topics. Because what links them is the way they treat people as commodities rather than human beings. It’s time officialdom put its feet in other people’s shoes.

The charities thing arose from the sad death of Britain’s oldest poppy seller Olive Cooke, whose body was found in the Avon Gorge at Bristol. There were reports that demands from charities through the post and on the phone had taken their toll on this lovely lady. She had been pictured in her local paper just months before she died, with a pile of junk mail from good causes pleading for her support.

Having had the post of an elderly relative diverted to us for about six months a few years ago, I can vouch for the problem. We had enough letters from elephants in India, poor children in Africa and mouth painters from England to fill a small skip, just because our kindly relative’s name and address had been passed on by one charity to the mailing list vultures to pick on.

The family of the late Mrs Cooke say the unwanted attention from charities was intrusive but did not contribute to her death. An inquest heard that she had depression and, according to the BBC, the family said she had left a note to explain the reasons for her death which had mentioned depression and being elderly.

Whatever the reasons, Mrs Cooke’s life needs to be celebrated. An active, kindly lady, she lived a full and inspirational life that contained both tragedy and joy.

Whilst the charities’ marketing methods weren’t responsible for her death, the organisations involved need to take a serious look at how they get their messages across and to whom. They shouldn’t get off the hook that easily. Charities these days are big business, with thousands and millions spent on advertising in the hope of coining in even more. A sprat to catch a mackerel. Except the metaphorical sprats, hundreds of them, are landing in the laps of holidaymakers as they picnic on the beach, and the fish become a swarm of locusts.

Something needs to be done, and soon. And it would good to see some prominent charities stating publicly that enough is enough and taking the lead in a re-think, rather than waiting to be told to do so through legislation. I think they’d get our respect for that, and maybe a bit more money.

Meanwhile, at the Cannes Film Festival, apparently women have been turned away from the red carpet for not wearing high heels. One woman, film producer Valeria Richter who has had part of her foot amputated, told BBC 5 live that red carpet officials pointed at her shoes and said: “No, no, this won’t work, you can’t get in like this.”

The organisers deny there’s a ‘high heels only’ rule. But several women say they were turned away for wearing flat shoes.

The BBC says the row, which exploded on Twitter, is awkward for Cannes at a time when the festival is trying to challenge sexism in cinema.

I’m a sucker when it comes to high heels. But I know if I ever get an invitation to Cannes (which will never happen), I’ll be wearing flip-flops, just to make a point. And I’ll be taking a Converse-clad Angelina Jolie with me for support. I’d like to see the shoe police try to mess with her.

About Maddie Grigg

Maddie Grigg is the pen name of former local newspaper editor Margery Hookings. Expect reflections on rural life, community, landscape, underdogs, heritage and folklore. And fun.

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