Last night me and my pal Kenny McKenzie were standing outside Corkerhill Community Centre handing out leaflets and stickers. Near the end of our shift three wee boys on bikes came up to us and asked for a sticker. Duly given, one asked what was going on? I said its a referendum . When asked what that was both Kenny and i expained how it worked how people had a choice about the future of Scotland and whether or not Scotland should be an independent country. People had to answer that question with a yes or a no.To be honest i was expecting them just to go away. Then one of the boys asked: would there be a good reason to vote no? It was very obvious he was quite serious about his question I think both me and Kenny became quite alert to their response and knew we could not give a glib answer, I tried to explain that some folk had grown up with Scotland in the union and it had not been bad to them and therefore, wanting to keep it was a valid reason for them, but it was one I disagreed with, and beyond that I could not give him another answer, which was the truth. Then one of the other boys asked why we were voting yes. Again, we felt they wanted a real answer, and I could that see these wee boys were actually interested in knowing. I told them that for me (and I was very conscious about how I would answer him) it was about fairness for everybody, that I did not believe the Scotland was treated fairly in the union. I told him that I was an old man and while I would not be around in 20-odd years time they would be young men with families of their own and I was voting yes for them. Kenny input similar responses to their questions. At this time the no campaigner had arrived and was standing behind me. When I looked to her, she did not engage with the boys at all even though it was obvious they would have responded to her if she felt like giving them an answer. There were a couple of other things they spoke and asked about, and these wee boys listened respectfully to what we had to say. Then, like wee boys do, they suddenly upped and said bye and quickly disappeared. It was this that started the conversation we had with the no campaigner. She was a decent woman and I liked her well enough, even though i disagreed with pretty much everything she said (Kenny disagreed with her a wee bit more forcefully than me. Why am I writing this? Those three eleven year old boys were more engaged and interested in our own wee independence debate in that moment than all the no people I have spoken to over the past two years – more engaged probably than all 2 and a half million who voted no, or did not vote at all.. I am so sorry we as a nation could not give these boys what they deserved: a free, resource-rich independent country in which to grow and have families of their own. It is truly a sad day today.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:44:08 +0000
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