I JUST WANT TO SPEAK TO A HUMAN! NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

THERE are so many things wrong in the UK currently that it’s practically impossible to get numbers down to even a top ten. Whenever back there, however, one of my almost daily frustrations is attempting to speak to a human in any organisation via any medium.

Some have removed phone contact, others email addresses and even chat messages (although that point may not be a bad thing with banks, with which you ‘live chat’ only to discover that the agent is actually dealing with some 300 ‘chatters’ and may get back to you tomorrow). And why are so many actual staff still working from home, especially government agencies like HMRC, DVLA etc?

Question: Why is it so difficult to speak to a human in wealthy, successful organisations?

Answer: Because they become successful initially by being small, flexible and customer­focused. Then they trade on that reputation to grow to a size where they're bought out by MegaGlobalCorp Inc, who keep those direct debits rolling over whilst sacking everyone and closing down most of the back ­ office operation. Customer service’s an irrelevance, and if they spend any money it's on daft advertising campaigns.

Lordy, another lie down needed!

Nora Johnson’s 11 critically acclaimed psychological crime thrillers (www.nora­johnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

ON Thursday, March 8, nations across the world celebrate International Women’s Day.

Created in 1977 by the UN as a day to raise awareness of different women’s issues globally, International Women’s Day shows us how far the world has come; and how far it has left to go.

Think of the world just 100 years ago when women couldn’t vote, mothers couldn’t work, and women couldn’t apply for loans without a male guarantor, or evenly inherit money if there was already a male heir. In short, anything that allowed women to have what we would now consider an actual life of their own.

There were always exceptions of course (Gentleman Jack, Beatrix Potter) but as well as being generally wealthier to start with (giving them considerably more freedom than many other women), they really were the exception, not the rule.

In the western world at least, freedoms, rights and equalities really are now the rule.

While there is a lot to celebrate in this though, let’s not allow this success to make us forget the same is not true to women everywhere in the world. And that we can only truly celebrate equality when it actually applies equally to all women.