Monday, April 21, 2008

The elephant in the flickr Norfolk groups room

Sign in the window of Trowse Post Office.

There has been a revolution in Norfolk. We have been the subject of a friendly invasion of migrant workers from Poland and Portugal. (Although it is said the Poles are returning home). We have Portugese and Polish Shops, Pubs and even night clubs. Some banks and building societies have employed Polish and Portugese speakers to deal with their new customers. My small corner newsagent has found it profitable to stock Polish brands and beers. It is not just in the towns but also in the villages that one hears European languages being used; it is impossible to go to a car boot sale without meeting migrant workers on both sides of the counter. Interestingly enough this enormous social change has not been reflected in the local flickr group photo pools. Is this because we are a bunch of Racists? Or are we just very unwelcoming?

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