Reducing risk while you work

What would you say is a typical price for a one-hour driving lesson?

Would you be happy to say £30?  It will be thereabouts, perhaps it may significantly vary in certain locations.  To earn £700 in lessons in a five day week, you would need to work with just over 23 pupils.

With BIG TOM intensive courses, you would work with just one pupil, all week, and still earn £700.  From a virus contagion point of view, that's good.

There are quite a few other advantages of working in this way.  The reason why we are so popular is that the advantages are not just with the driving instructor.  Our customers love the rate of improvement in their driving.  They appreciate the attention and in particular the detail that their BIG TOM instructor can provide when they work together each day.

Read what some of our customers say about their BIG TOM experience.

Apart from it simply being smarter to work in this way from an infection point of view, our customers love it.  

This is why we have customers booking up for our courses in advance, which is why you will get paid in advance.

This will be a new way of doing things from your point of view, but BIG TOM has been doing this for years.  Come and join us!

Let's go!

To be a BIG TOM driving instructor, you need to be registered with the DVSA.  To qualify to be registered there are three tests to pass.  I remember when I was attempting to qualify, this idea of three tests really put me off.  But if I told you that the first test is the theory, the second is your driving then really, that just leaves the instructional test.  

This need not take a long time, but you will need to get organised.  We help you every step of the way.  You get 1:1 meetings in person, and also online.  Your progress is tracked all the way.  All the reference materials that you receive are DVSA authorised.

There are no contracts to sign, or fixed fees, or large payouts.  You simply pay for the resource you need at the time: online, in-person over a coffee, or in-car. 

I've known people turn this around in a matter of months.  Some who are training around other commitments may take longer.  You can reasonably expect to pay in the region of £1000 + the DVSA test fees.

We are happy to help people to become BIG TOM driving instructors from any location.  Supplying your own car is not necessary - we can advise you regarding your options.     

Life after lockdown

How will the life of driving instructing change after lockdown?

Here at BIG TOM, we think that more than ever, there will need to be honest and open communications between instructor and pupil - perhaps with the added dimension of "track and trace".   Hygiene and professionalism will continue to be the way that BIG TOM conducts business.  Test availability from the DVSA may be challenging.

But the demand is set to be extreme.  BIG TOM Admin is continuing to take fully paid course bookings throughout this period of lockdown despite us not being able to give customers a start time for the in-car training.  This means that customers are using the lockdown period to engage in our bespoke driving training resources.  

There is every indication that we will have more work available than we can accommodate.  We need instructors to come on board now, to receive information about the BIG TOM intensive courses, while we are still in lockdown.  

The opportunity here is amazing.  Each course is 4 hours of driving training per day, and that can be for a total of 20 hours or 40 hours where you earn £700 & £1200 respectively.  Yes, we have had instructors in the past who run more than one course per week, e.g. 8 hours in-car training per day.  

All we expect in return is a high-quality driving instructor where the pupil is at the heart of the learning environment.  Experience has told us that we are not interested in driving test pass rates of instructors, or Standards Check grades, but you will be invited to explain how you would handle real-life driving training situations.  We need instructors who can work effectively with pupils, creating a stimulating experience that has depth in safety and learning.  It is very important to us here at BIG TOM that customers feel they are safe and valued while training. 

If you feel that you have what it takes to complement our existing resources and add integrity to our BIG TOM Driving Success Programme© then we would love to hear from you.  

Call owner, Tom on 0749 836 4211.  Don't delay. This is a superb opportunity.  

Help! I'm falling on my sword!

He's clinging on.  Oh dear, what a painful spectacle these press briefings are turning out to be.  Heaven knows how BoJo is going to look in an hour or so time, after that performance from his right-hand man.

So, when the British public was being told in no uncertain terms (we all know how authoritarian Hancock has been) to stay at home, suddenly, it turns out that in fact, you can use your discretion with the dictum.  You do have to feel for all these people who have suffered so much in complying with the rules.  When all along, there is actually a fair degree of flex, where you basically consider what is reasonable. 

 

I've got two boys, the idea of driving 260 odd miles when they were four years old, without a stop is mental; inevitably they (or I) would like to use toilets but also, since when is it safe to be driving 260 miles non-stop?  What's that all about?

I think that this government is teetering on the edge of losing control; they're not the most stable of characters when you start looking at them.  This is now two members of the SAGE committee (this anonymous group of people) who advised this unprecedented "lockdown" and have now been seen to breach it.  People across the country will quite rightly be absolutely furious.  

For me, it's all about the way in which they have conducted this strategy.  It is overbearing, completely disproportionate and as is being seen, not actually all that sensible.  I don't feel too concerned about the rights and wrongs of the decision he made; he seems to me like he was attempting to make the best of a bad situation.  What gets me is the inequality of the situation.  There will be thousands (if not millions) of people who have suffered greatly due to the conditions these people have set.  These poor souls don't have access to properties that are standing empty on large farms that Daddy owns with acres of woods.  It's that point that is wrong.  People of privilege, in power, making what can only be described as unprecedented curbs to personal freedom, and then demonstrating that the constraints are actually unreasonable.  

Why are they unreasonable?  Because as it turns out, they can't even abide by them.  "Stay at home" is pretty clear.  We are talking about the guy who actually creates these slogans that the government so effectively use to influence public thought and behaviour.  

Think about how you teach

Is Cummings still hanging on for dear life? 

Someone who I've not seen as being too active prior to lockdown but has now sprung into life is Ken Robinson.  He seems to think that there is a great opportunity for us all to review our thoughts on how we "do" education.  For any newcomers to my blog, Ken represents something of a God to me.  Many years ago he did a Ted talk about education that has been viewed by the population of the globe about 5 times over (slight exaggeration but I think it fair to say, he struck a chord with many).  He's written books since that I've read, I am, unashamedly a fan.  The thrust of his thoughts on education involve discarding the standardisation of testing, do away with the models of mass learning in set size classes and ability.  He's a very interesting guy.  

The reason why I bring him up is because in our jobs, we "do" learning.  Would it be not too contentious if I said that some instructors do simply coach a pupil to pass the driving test?  The reason why schools fall into this trap is partly due to the influence of the multi-million-pound industry of the examining boards.  It's partly due to the shame Tory governments suffer when they see the UK position on the PISA list.  It's partly due to the insistence of OFSTED grading schools based upon exam results.  But we, as driving instructors, don't suffer from these problems.  Not yet, anyway.  The DVSA don't grade our standards checks based upon our pass rate.  They don't publicise our pass rates.  There really is no need for driving instructors to go down the route of coaching pupils to pass tests.  For any PDI reading, let me give just one example of what I am referring to.

Take a junction that is controlled by a STOP sign.  With these signs comes a solid white line, often accompanied by the word STOP on the road.   As an instructor, you could bowl up to this junction and say:

"So John, whenever you see that on the road if you want to pass the driving test, you really must stop."

"Oh, what?  Really stop?  I know loads of people who don't."

"Yes, you need to forget about them John for the purposes of passing this test, and just remember to stop.  Ok?"

"Right, thanks."

Your pupil continues to receive practise on all the test routes known to the instructor.  Whenever they arrive at a stop junction, the instructor prompts John to make sure he stops.  John complies.

When John goes to test, he knows there's the stop junction coming up, and he remembers to stop.  Hoorah.  Test passed.  John thinks his instructor is wonderful, so do John's parents and happy days.

Of course, now when John comes up to stop junctions, it's a different ball game.  He's not trying to pass tests now.  He isn't in compliance mode anymore.  John wasn't invited to consider if there is a theme to the characteristics of junctions that are controlled by a stop.  He doesn't really know why they exist.  He wasn't told about the significance of backing the white paint (on the road) up with an odd-shaped sign.  Why might you not see the white paint, why might you not see the details on the sign?  The poor lad has nothing to relate to.  All he knows is that to pass the test he had to stop.  What happens now if he doesn't necessarily stop?  Are there increased risks at these kinds of junctions, if so, what are they?  What are the possible implications for NOT complying with the conditions?

On one level of driving instruction, (instructor-led), what the instructor says is gold-dust.  I often (perhaps unfairly) associate this kind of instructor with a military or police background.  Just do what I tell you.  Then you have another level of driving instruction that attempts to make the learning meaningful to the pupil.  It encourages the pupil to think why these junctions exist, their importance, the value it provides to road users.  The beliefs and attitudes of the pupil are explored, and the learning is put into context.  

For instructors who express an interest in joining my franchise, I email them over a group of fictional scenario's that ultimately enables me to assess what kind of instructor the person is.  One recent unsuccessful applicant didn't quite appreciate the significance and returned the sheets with no other reply than:

"I will decide how I play these situations once I've built up a rapport with the pupil."  

Not with BIG TOM pupils you won't.

It might sound to you like I'm flippant here, but I'm really not.  I passionately believe in every word I say.  Pupils need to have the ability to be critical with knowledge.  They need to hear something, consider what it actually means, critically analyse the worth of it, and move on knowing that they have gone through that process.  

Arguably that is what has been missing throughout this saga with the virus.  The public have never questioned the science (or the members on SAGA) for the rationale behind the need for a lockdown.  They just accepted it, complied like brainless sheep and here we all are.  There is always variability in science, we can't blame the people who provide the science, but we sure can question how the politicians chose to interpret it.  Why was it ever going to be sensible to tackle such a live, fast-moving problem like a virus using the mechanisms of an enormous machine like the NHS; not allowing for any regional nuance?  The UK didn't respond quickly enough or smart enough because it was anchored by this almighty centralised, cumbersome monster that our government were hell-bent on protecting.  

Sword, you, fall upon it

The daily briefing was a bit of an event today.  BoJo not only didn't look well, but he seemed entirely off his game.  The Cummings distraction may well have been the final thing to tip him over the edge.  All I can say is that it didn't look good.  In the old day's civil servants used to resign in these kinds of circumstances so as to protect the MP - seems like BoJo was attempting to defend the indefensible.  I wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised if Cummings ever so unwillingly resigns by close of play today - and I'm saying that at 6.40 pm as I write!  All said and done, I do feel for BoJo, I do hope someone is looking out for the poor chap, medically - he was not looking well.

Otherwise, a fairly quiet day.  I attempted to apply some of my learning in my online coding course to my own website today.  It was in the grand scheme of things, a minor change regarding an image with a telephone number on it.  But it was pretty significant to me.  I called through for some assistance from my coach who is in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and is a cheerful soul.  I didn't know if I was trying my luck somewhat attempting to actually apply my learning, and in her defence, although she said it was indeed unorthodox, she did try to help.  But without success, unfortunately, so I'll need to contact my web guy.  I'm a little deflated about it, because although it sounds a small deal, actually, I'd be delighted to be able to make those kinds of changes independently.

'Unorthodox' is just one series that I've come to enjoy over this lockdown.   Others include Narcos, Gangs of London, The Good Place, Normal People, Friday Night Lights, Schitt's Creek and Fauda.

Talking of my business, as I briefly was when I mentioned the website, customers continue to not only express interest but also pay upfront for courses when I can't even give them a start date for the in-car training.  I'm in a pleasing position to say that even when I have not done a single minute of driving training throughout this entire lockdown.  I guess that is just a very flattering demonstration of the trust my customers have in my business.  I love my work, I really do, and I intend to continue providing the absolute best service I can to my customers.  

 

Tax rises for all

From what I can gather, I think driving instructors might be landed with significantly higher fuel costs shortly.  The government will inevitably have some kind of emergency budget in the not too distant where it will start to dawn on us all how they intend to start replenishing the depleted reserves. It seems so generous to receive payments while we stay at home, but it is of course our money that they are tinkering with.  Some people are clearly quite enjoying the experience of this lockdown, probably oblivious to what this economic depression will really mean.  This will come at great cost to us all.  You don't get away with preventing a large proportion of your perfectly healthy working population from leaving their home, without there being cataclysmic repercussions.  

And why?  Where is the evidence that preventing healthy adults from about 18 - 50 years of age was necessary to save lives?  I'm not suggesting that our vulnerable should not have been, and should not continue to be protected.  In fact, anyone who believes they are in any way vulnerable should take extra precautions.  The irony with our government response is that not only did they unnecessarily restrict the movements of reduced risk individuals (in their millions), but they actually increased the risks to the very people who were already at higher risk.  Booting out the elderly, vulnerable citizens in our population from their hospital beds and returning them to the high-risk location of their care homes, is utterly bonkers.  I'm not even sure about the ethics of stopping treatment of non-virus patients for things like cancer or a serious illness - how do medical people even justify that morally?  For all the mania about "protecting" the NHS, our Health Secretary presided on a strategy that will in all likelihood cause a deeply troubling tally of avoidable deaths.

Looking forward and hopefully with a bit more optimism, where are we on tests?  The system is showing theory test slots from 31/5 onwards, and the practical test side of things is still in deadlock.  Very uncertain times, I think all we can really do is be as transparent with our customers as possible.  

The need for guarantees

Well, my new job is no nearer to starting after a week of pretty intense chasing.  I live in hope, I've had enough chats with my agency, surely if it was a dead loss, I'd like to think they would have told me by now.  It's funny the thoughts that start going around in your head.  I'm wondering if my age of 51 might be a disadvantage.  I've been looking around at delivery jobs too.  It's funny because my family must get on average five deliveries per week I would estimate, and by far the best delivery person is this old guy of about 65 - happy chap, very chilled and speaks my language.  Hospital jobs are a different breed I've noticed, I'm steering clear of those for the moment.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying myself.  The three online courses I'm doing are starting to rock and roll.  I particularly like the coding course.  I get a real buzz from completing the tasks - sounds silly, I know, but I love it.

Otherwise, what are our wonderful government up to?  Well, it appears that the State is now actively demonstrating itself to be overbearing on many fronts.  The CPS has decided to rescind all police prosecutions brought against the public under the Coronavirus Act.  No clearer symptom could you have asked for to demonstrate how trigger happy this authoritarian State is becoming.  This is of course, what happens when you have politicians speaking in the language and tone which they currently do.  Hancock is a master at it.  Patel, did a damn good job today at the briefing if you saw it?  She absolutely loves the power of explaining the consequences of not complying to her "sanctions" as she described it.

The start point of schools opening for the 1/6/20 is now looking unrealistic, so is mid-June.  Seems Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland may have called this one correctly.  The "science" as we all now refer to it is not conclusive (there's a surprise), the unions hate the idea, parents don't much care for it.  It does make me laugh this "science" talk.  By it's very nature it will be inconclusive - rarely is a projection or even a result an absolute.  We seem to now fear uncertainty.  Quite how driving instructors have managed to do their job with the number of statistical accidents that occur is nothing short of a miracle.  

"Well, I would love to assist you with some driving training so that you can get your licence, but statistically, it's not an absolute certainty that in doing so we will NOT have an accident.  As such, much as I'd like to help you, I'm afraid the 'science' simply does not permit it"  

Save face, protect MP's jobs, stay quiet

I'm calling the recruitment agency on a daily basis regarding these contact trace vacancies.  There was another similar vacancy (but slightly different role) that I had to email someone my cv; I've never even had a response from her so given up on that one.  It's odd because the target that the government are attempting to recruit for tracers is increasing daily according to the media, and every day they are about 1000 short of the target.  The chap I've come to know now at the agency, tells me that the only reason I'm not getting a response yet is that they don't have a start date.  That fact doesn't appear to be stopping the government from recruiting ever-increasing numbers.  Perhaps it might be a bit like Matt Hancocks 'completed tests' numbers; one day when it exceeded 100,000, it transpired that 40,000 of that number were merely tests that had been posted/delivered, not actually conducted.  

According to the politicians, the start date for track and trace is the 1/6/20.  That is leaving ten days for the agency to vet my application, and if I was successful for me to be trained and ready.  Seems a tight schedule to me.

I bike around my town, and I see gatherings of 12-15 people on our cricket ground lawns.  The occasional driving school car is spotted.  The private lessons are still taking place.  I see taxi drivers going about their business; one yesterday was not even pretending to play the game by wearing a mask.  The big supermarkets created a plastic divider between a shopper and till person but left it entirely open where the card keyholder is, so when you go to pay, there is less than a metre (face to face).  It's all getting a bit strange.

There seems to be increasing heat being generated due to driving tests that were postponed from the original suspension.  That period is coming to an end next month so many instructors are quite understandably wondering whether those tests will go ahead, and if so, whether they are able to train their pupils prior to the test.  The situation is further fuelled by some instructors desperately needing to start earning money.  The result is that we have the 'booking system' creating an apparent opportunity to earn, but the lockdown is, of course, still in place.  That is a bit of a heady mixture, and emotions are running high.  

The 80% financial assistance provided to the self-employed, which was processed by the government, to their credit, ahead of schedule, does not provide the same assistance to all.  It sounds obvious, but actually, when you dig down, it could well be perceived as highly divisive.  They had to draw the line somewhere, as is the case with these things, inevitably some are going to be within the boundary and content, and others will fall by the wayside.  I genuinely feel very sorry for those instructors who have very little financial assistance in these times.  There are rumblings between instructors of the potential for the 80% financial assistance being extended; nothing more than a canard as far as I can tell.  It was always intended to cover Mar-May (inc), so some are now wondering if it will extend into the summer.  I've mentioned it before on this blog, the "bill" for this lockdown, whether they extend it for self-employed or not is going to be colossal.

For my peace of mind, I have to compartmentalise the decision making of the government in early March.  The nerve of Macron to threaten closing down of borders if the UK doesn't up its game and protect its citizens.  We effectively had members of an anonymous committee playing God.  By "protecting the NHS" at all costs, clearing out hospital beds and immediately ceasing all treatments in the pipeline, they seemingly had the power to over-ride the Hippocratic Oath and tell the medical profession to turn their back (and their resources) on the needy.  Why?  For a pandemic that has cost 40,000 lives in the UK so far.  Tragic as each one of those deaths undoubtedly is, you do now have to wonder what the cost in human life will end up being for all those poor souls who had discontinued treatment.

Hospitals have long been running at significantly lower capacity; medical staff complain of being bored.  Don't get me wrong, I imagine it is still pretty intense dealing with the 300-400 daily C-19 deaths, but you can't help but wonder where all the other needy are?   The patients who would normally have been in the wards, and more to the point, how are they?

A shameful disaster has unfolded, and the way Matt Hancock talks about his beloved NHS, you can see why.  It's never a good sign when the apparent needs of the organisation outweigh the needs of the people it is designed to serve.  So intent was the desire to "protect" the NHS, unwell people have been neglected.  These Tory politicians cannot bear the thought of an organisation like the NHS being overwhelmed on their watch.  Just imagine the costs of all those satellite hospitals that were erected.  They locked down an entire country so as to avoid the seemingly unacceptable possibility of the NHS being stretched.  I rather suspect that Hancock will lose his job for such a misguided judgement.  The pain continues because clearly, once you tread that particular path, you are committed to it.  So all the rules that were in place to initially protect the hospitals from being overwhelmed are STILL being enforced to further protect the hospitals from being overwhelmed.  Oh, my word - do the honourable thing and make a u-turn.

Will I get the job?

Quite where we are going with this, is frankly, anyone's guess.  When "R" goes up, the Deputy Chief Medical Director advises that we don't take it too seriously: it is created from data that is weeks old and at best, it is just an estimate - regional "R" values will differ.  Yet, as it decreases, that apparently gives the green light for the PM to unlock the UK.  

A member of a Facebook group that I follow (for driving instructors) answered a question of mine superbly well I thought.  I asked, "When will you be happy to go back then, what has to happen for you to feel it is safe enough to go back?"  I was half expecting a reply based on the dreaded 'science'.  Not at all, the swift reply was: "When the examiners go back to work."  Stunningly succinct and very logical, do you not think?

I invited the members to give their opinions in a poll, and 70% of them said the same thing.   Can you think of one good reason why ADI's across the UK should go back any earlier than the examiners?  There appears to be this myth flying around that ADI's are going to need a certain number of days/weeks/months head-start on examiners because no-one is going to be ready for tests any earlier.  Really?  There is a demand for 400 critical workers every week who are near test ready.  Why should that not be multiplied many fold for the rest of the population?  Demand I imagine will be extremely high - right from the off. 

The problem with these times we find ourselves in is that we are just offering an opinion, attempting to anticipate what might happen.  'The science' as the government like to refer to the basis of their decisions, is pretty unreliable.  Opinions differ depending on who you speak to.  It also tends to have an 'all or nothing' vibe about it.  The whole country can and can't do this or that.  It strikes me as being a very blunt, dull way of creating policy.  There will be regional differences quite naturally, and the strategy should reflect that fact.

Many ADI's are wondering if the government 80% handouts are likely to be extended.  Again, it's just an opinion, but I would be very surprised if it is.  I say that for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, the cost of such a decision is astronomical.  We are heading straight into a depression the depths of which was last witnessed in the 1700's.  Having the government paying people for staying at home doing nothing is hardly going to reduce the burden on the economy.  Secondly, we just have to get going.  When all is said and done, as unsavoury as this sounds, and I genuinely mean no disrespect to families who have lost close ones, the death rate is something like 0.05% of our population.   One hundred million global deaths occurred with the Spanish virus in 1918 - I do think we need to get things in a bit of perspective (as unpalatable as that inevitably sounds in the written form).   I read with admiration a Facebook poster who was 87 years old. He had two operations cancelled due to the priorities of C-19, and even he recognised that this country needs to get going.  He said this in the knowledge that the elderly are the most vulnerable.  

There are a couple of worries I have about this continued lockdown.  Firstly, it has created an economic depression that is unimaginable, and according to experts, that will undoubtedly lead to the poorer members of society taking a hit post lockdown.  I'm talking here about an inequality based on wealth, which affects the type of jobs that are done, the nature of accommodation people live in, the access they have to technological provisions like broadband or pc's, laptops, smartphones, data.  Secondly, the long term effects this lockdown is having on mental health is potentially enormous.  There are genuine concerns at the moment that there is every likelihood that the lockdown has created such fear and anxiety that people with genuine needs for vital medical attention are not accessing the resources.  The death toll created by that situation could outnumber the eventual death toll from C-19, many times over.

I don't know - it is a complex problem and one that creates fear, sadness, anger and quite instinctive reflexes for survival.  

I've applied for a contact trace vacancy and wait to see if I am successful or not.  It involves a 60 hour week, 12 hours per day, paying £8.72 per hour.  My driving school offers a course of 20 hours in-car driving training with resources for £997 so as you can tell, this isn't about the money.  Personally, I'm not comfortable with receiving state money for doing absolutely nothing towards GDP while sitting at home.  It's not for everyone clearly, but if it means I am in some small way positively contributing to the situation we all find ourselves in, then I'll happily do it.    

Come on, down we go!

It seems that driving instructors are being grouped in with hairdressers when it comes to starting back to work.  Early July is the current estimate.  The government is wanting to see evidence of no ill-effects of the existing relaxing of lockdown before allowing us to get back in our cars.  The relaxing of lockdown comes in line with official news of the UK recession - deep recession.  We are talking of certainly the levels experienced in 2008 and all the likelihood of beyond.  

Self-employed people will have now received their government handout of 80% of their previous three years average profits - no less than three months worth.  How a country is supposed to survive by paying perfectly healthy people to stay indoors, contributing nothing to the GDP is beyond me.  

The way I'm tending to think about our current predicament is a bit like the unfolding drama of a mountain hike.  Do you know how it goes?  You start early in the morning, the weather forecast is good.  You are in high spirits; done all your safety checks; the right people know of your whereabouts.  You may be in a mixed bunch of ability and experience, but morale is high, and it looks like the start of a beautiful day.  If all goes to plan, everyone should be back in the accommodation, drinking wine and chuckling about the day's events by 7 pm.

    

You are more than halfway there when you begin to notice changing weather patterns.  Everyone pauses to discuss options.  After considering the remaining trek, the time and morale, it is decided, primarily by the leader to carry on.  There were some reservations expressed by a couple of members of the party, but the leader is pretty influential.  He often talks unemotionally, basing his views on fact and experience.  His conclusion is instead to carry on.  

And the party does achieve the goal of reaching the summit.  But in doing so, the weather has indeed closed in.  What was initially, overcast, grey clouds providing that very fine, spray rain, you know, the 'wet rain', is now constant, energy sapping rain.  This has now developed into a drop in temperature and mist, which is rapidly turning into a fog.  This wasn't on the forecast!

The party finds itself in the unpleasant predicament of now attempting to descend in pretty nasty conditions and what is more, due to the unreliable forecast, not particularly well-equipped.

Time is ticking by and the party groups together to listen to the words of wisdom from their leader.  

"We are in a bit of a pickle here everyone.  The good news to tell you is that the weather doesn't appear to be getting any worse.  Not for the last 45 minutes in any case.  So as long as that remains the case, that is good news.  I will keep my eye on that though."

The group members turn to each other and smile.  A few strains of anxiety on the brows of a few momentarily lift.

"However, the bad news is that, as you can see, we are deep in the do do.  Having managed to get ourselves up here, it now becomes a question of how and when we descend.  Now I know that this is far from ideal.  There are perils involved for sure.  The equipment that we are using and wearing is not suitable for this situation.  I can see that for a few of us, this is also going to be not just a physical challenge, but a mental one too.  I will also be quite open with you now and say that I am wondering which is the least risky route to get down.  It's not just a question of the quickest route; there are certainly other factors involved which affect the risks."

Arguably, the decision to carry on up the mountain was fundamentally an error.  With all things considered, a careful assessment would have resulted in an about-turn.  About the middle of March, there were all the signs present for the need to increase testing significantly.  But Matt Hancock thought better of it, and in a deadly combination also ignored the perils that care homes potentially create.  He was in effect, blinded.  

We now find ourselves attempting to trek down this mountain, and I don't think it's going to be at all pleasant.  

       

My boat's better than your boat

I've been chatting to many instructors across the country recently.  And it is interesting to see how the varied ways in which people assess the situation we find ourselves in.  One ADI recently concluded our chat with "We are all in the same storm at sea, and I agree not all in the same boat."

You see, as far as I can make out, we don't all go about business in the same way.  The rate of exposure to people varies quite considerably across driving schools.   I might be exposed to one BIG TOM customer per working day, all week.  And yet, a different driving school might see forty pupils in that same period of time.  Yes, I am aware of the data surrounding taxi/bus drivers and security guards, but how much each ADI is exposed IS relevant.  This isn't going to be like a light switch where one day we all wake up to an "R" of zero or a miraculous vaccine. It is nuanced.  

I welcome that our industry is attempting to grade risk in a thoughtful way.

I do wonder at what point some ADI's would actually be happy to go back to work?  "R" changes with a location so simply saying something like when "R" gets to 0.2 ADI's can work again is too general.  Apparently up north "R" is still running at about 0.9!

But also, factors like BAME, age, health, should be factors too, I would have thought.   Obesity is prevalent in our industry, I certainly fall into this category, and yet it is recognised as a risk factor for C-19.

Whatever PPE and practices were used by DVSA driving examiners for the last seven weeks (when "R" was significantly higher), ADI's can do.  No issues with that. So presumably the DVSA assessed the risk to their examiners in terms of rate of exposure.  And they deemed that as being acceptable.  Therefore, in much the same way, shouldn't the industry now be considering the rate of exposure for different ADI's and how they go about their business?  Seems logical to me.  You can't have one rule for one, and one rule for others.  Critical workers and DVSA examiners are no less susceptible to the virus than other pupils and ADI's.

The other thing, of course, to bear in mind with this situation is how long the government are going to be able to keep paying the self-employed 80%.  Along with the furlough scheme, this must be costing a fortune!

Have you lost your voice?

The Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps has announced today that due to the continuation of social distancing measures post-lockdown, the capacity of public transport will now be just one-tenth what it was prior to the pandemic.  He is suggesting that people start walking, riding or using escooters to travel to their work.  He went further and said if people just now switch to driving cars, then the roads will be in gridlock.

To me, this typifies the government approach to this crisis.  They say things without the depth of thought.  Quite how hundreds of thousands of commuters who usually train into our cities are now expected to escooter their way along the motorways is quite an extraordinary statement to make.  

But of course, we are talking about a government who chose to ignore the WHO advice of "test, test, test" and instead chose to listen to a professor who claimed that the only course of action available was a national lockdown so as to avoid the death of hundreds of thousands of people.  In being so adamant about giving this instruction, Professor Neil Ferguson then chose to breach the lockdown repeatedly.  The fact is of course that many people have been doing the same thing, maybe for not quite the same reasons (google him to see what I mean).  It has been an unprecedented erosion of civil liberty.

At the very start of this, there was very little knowledge of how this virus spreads.  All the public have been told is that old men seem to be most prone to death.  There are implications for elderly people in general, especially if they suffer from underlying medical problems.  Hub cities attract more cases, as does population density, as does BAME.

But why can't people be given a choice?  Why couldn't they have been given a choice a long time ago more to the point?  The government could give us the facts as they know it, and let the people decide.  By all means give clear warnings as to the consequences of not social distancing, the risks to the elderly but just let them make their own choices.  For sure, get smart and help the population to trace contact with people who have the virus.  Sweden (and others) has shown the world that no lockdown can still result in significantly fewer deaths than the UK has suffered.

Our government locked down the nation before it had even tested all the NHS and care worker staff to ensure they were not passing the virus on to the elderly.  Get your head around that nonsense for a minute.  This has been a government making choices within a culture of fear.  It does make me wonder how we would fare in a time of war.  I wonder how much of the fear that they like to spread is related to attempting to be seen to take the pandemic ever so seriously.  "You can't possibly think of sacking me, look how seriously I've taken this situation."

But fundamentally it's wrong to stop people going to church, or see their elderly parents if they know the risk and still want to.  It's wrong not to allow parents to hold the hand of a teenager in a critical condition on a hospital bed [see the previous blog].  And given the fact that this pandemic mostly affects the elderly, it's wrong to close down the whole nation.  

I would argue you don't have to be particularly intelligent or street-wise to recognise these points.  Blimey, I'm just an owner of a driving school franchise, I regularly come last on our family zoom quizzes, and even I could see weeks ago, right from wrong (as evidenced by this blog).

Right from wrong.  People seem to be fearful of expressing their views nowadays.  Instead, what we have is the public expression of constant virtue signalling of authoritarian leaning folk, who if they are not telling you how shit you are on social media, are busy snitching you to the authorities.  It is ok to think for yourself.  You don't have to get permission for critical thought.  And if your conclusion goes against the mainstream, it doesn't automatically make you any less correct.  

The taste of freshly laid eggs

It didn't take long to start hearing about ADI's who had decided to leave the industry.  Just a couple of weeks of lockdown and I was beginning to hear quite sad accounts.  Why it has to be that way is something that many would have us believe is natural.  We tend to have this idea in our minds that the running of our driving schools tracks a linear path of success, up to a point.  Upon reaching that point, we appear to be 'happy with our lot', take the foot off the gas and sit back and relax. And our business stays ticking over at that level until we eventually retire. 

I'm not sure that entirely encapsulates what happens.  Consider for a moment our circle of friends and their relative success/failure.  Success breeds success; does it not?  Failure can look pretty nasty.  The opportunities that initial success attracts helps to create more.  Failure, however, can be a slippery slope that might include financial ruin, alcohol or drug addiction, and breakdown of relationships.

It is precarious because ultimately, bills do need paying.  Kids at home need feeding and clothing.  But it is possible to make decisions that are building on success.  A builder who takes the initial bold step of buying land to develop a family home can choose to expand further in the knowledge that the family home experience was successful.  Being a BIG TOM franchisee within an already successful business just makes sense.  It is not necessary to commit to large monthly franchise fees. 

Think of all the mindset alterations we are making in this lockdown period.  Attitudes are changing with large gains to our communities, where we start to see the very real benefit of appreciating local needs and skills.

People have had plenty of time to consider their work/life balance.

Have you tasted freshly laid eggs when compared to the eggs provided from supermarkets?  

Now is the time to look at things from a new viewpoint, and choose to make decisions that build on successful outcomes.