Today, it was announced that the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher died following a stroke.
I'm only too aware of the groan up political divisions her era has left however for me she left a powerful memory that's a part of my childhood
Without going into a lot of details on this public blog, my friends and I had the occasion to see Mrs Thatcher at school and we asked if we visit her. Surprisingly she agreed and her secretaries with the help of our school, organized everything!
There is inevitably a lot of work undertaking such an activity from sorting out dates, transportation and getting everyone security cleared with official permits and invites issued.
We were treated to a tour of Number Ten, Downing Street. Shortly afterward, we did what you guys call 'small talk', talking with her and the staff over Afternoon Tea. Before we left we had pop in the garden at the back of the house (it's quite some garden I can assure you).
She was exceptionally nice to us and nothing was too much trouble.
It was a very memorable visit, something not every elected politician of any kind of politics would just do for a group of school kids and a reflection of her personal generousity outside of the political posturing you saw in the press and tv.
One thing many people forget about politicians: they do have "down time" and can have a completely separate existence "off duty" - often appearing to have a completely different personality to when they're doing their day job.
ReplyDeleteAs for Maggie's political life, I think the best word to describe her is "divisive" - depending on who you ask she either saved or destroyed Britain. If anyone's bored enough, most reputable media sources will have obituaries spinning her life from their point of view.