Greta, 16, has a scary grown-up tale to tell

Remember how it was when you pontificated back in school days, back when you were 16? Remember the reaction? Mocking could be an understatement, in spite of your sincerity. As if any of

us could forget a difficult time like that in life.

Remember how the teachers took note of your every word, ho ho, how they never mocked you, as if, how you aired things that seemed oh so wise at the time.

I confess that those embarrassing times have been in my mind since I heard of some young Swedish gal who has been ‘impressing politicians’ and the media.

The international reputation of Swedish gals usually has had more to do with their physicality rather than figures of speech. (Of course, Abba’s sweeties are spared from this generalisation.)

Media hype?

The first I heard of Greta Thunberg was the hype in the media – or what seemed hype – of a fifteen-year-old who decided to go on strike every Friday.

She would leave school and go to protest outside the Swedish parliament about climate change.

A fifteen-year-old schoolgirl deciding that for herself. Come on, I thought.

Oh, sure. Tell it to the judge.

And when you look at the details of this spokesperson, this new leading spokesperson on climate change, you learn that she suffers from Asperger’s, too. I doubt that I was the only person who has travelled in Sweden or with 15-year-old relations, who smiled condescendingly at the stories.

However, why is she in the news? It can’t be through some shortage of happenings, not with the never-ending brexit saga and now the Colombo terrorist horror.
Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/382-greta-16-has-a-scary-grown-up-tale-to-tell