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<DIV>I very rarely write to this list, but enjoy the informative
posts. Something that caught my eye this week was on the BBC.
"Goldenballs: The Secret History of Pawn."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The reason it literally caught my eye was because two very vulnerable
people I know happened to appear on it. I am a teacher in Govan and
two parents from families living in abject poverty featured in the programme
using the "facilities". </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The programme itself, as far as I could see was an advert for Pawn
shops as we were shown around the premises and it was treated as a twee
curiosity -an almost harmless little anomaly in our 21st century
world. There was no investigation as to why Pawn shops are on the
up. There was no investigation into the lives of the people who use
them. It showed that Pawn shops in Partick and the one beside
Central Stn (can't remember the name of the street - Argyll St?) and two in
more affluent areas - Byres Road in the West End and one in Edinburgh.
We were shown around by the owner - and then a shop assistant was
interviewed. The shop owner told us that the Byres Road shop had
separate entrances for Pawners and buyer - the two shouldn't meet.
There was no investigation as to why this should be the case. If these
things were such a valuable service why would people be embarrassed?
One of the customers (of the Partick shop) who was interviewed said she
thought Pawn shops were great as when she got tired of jewelry she could
pawn it. She was someone who was "caught in the headlights".
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A more socially aware Producer/ Director would have asked simple
questions as to why these people pawned and why these places have become
popular again in Glasgow. Instead of a jolly jape, this subject
should have been treated as an indicator of our societal problems. And
if the surface had have been slightly rubbed, two of the participants could
have quite succinctly by their very existence, shown that in actual fact
this service is nothing but another exploitation of the very poorest
and most vulnerable of Scottish society.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The producer was Mhairi McNeill (room 3160)and the director was Becky
Brazil (room 3191).</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The full address of the BBC is:</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BBC Scotland</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>
Broadcasting House</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Queen Margaret
Drive</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>Glasgow</FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>G12 8DG</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Neil Scott</DIV>
<DIV>Glasgow</DIV>
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