Bloody Roadworks

These yellow signs at the side of the road normally only add to the misery of being a motorist in Central Scotland just now. They're everywhere and I had a little rant the other day about them after a normal 10 minute journey dragged out to 40 minutes as a consequence of them.

Not today though.

This sign only served to highlight how petty and irrelevant our minor rants can be at times. This sign brings home hard to our small town a huge and controversial issue that affects more than just local motorists.

Today is the funeral of a local lad who was killed on the 6th of August along with two of his comrades in Southern Afghanistan. The small town of Alloa will gather together to pay their respects and for a few hours the multitude of roadworks and other minor irritations that annoy us daily will be put aside. Whether or not you or I agree that we should be sending our soldiers there or not isn't an issue for discussion here today.

I had taken some photos of the crowds gathering outside the church, but didn't feel comfortable posting these. Or the shot of the Police escort as the hearse carrying the Union Flag draped coffin passed. I thought that these unassuming black letters on yellow tell the story in their own simple way.

Today I will not be cursing the roadworks. Today I will be thinking about all the friends and family of the brave local hero who is being laid to rest today.