Settle is a small town in North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
Yesterday, there was a story in the press telling how on Boxing Day the owner of a hardware store decided he wanted to spend the day with his family so he rigged up a funnel into a bucket (an ‘honesty box’), put up a sign telling customers to pay for whatever they wanted, and duly left the shop unattended.
When he returned there was £187.66 (and two Euros – even Settle would appear to have people who aren’t completely honest) in the box. The various stories are not totally clear on whether anything was taken without being paid for, but it appears that nothing was stolen.
It was a nice gesture, I suppose, but one many of us would have trouble getting our heads around based on the scum we know live around us.
But I can’t help think it is being blown so much out of proportion that Settle might be storing up trouble for itself.
On BBC National News this morning they had the guy in the studio. He seems completely genuine, although it all comes across as a bit naïve out here in the real world. However, they also had cameras in Settle and were interviewing some of the residents. One said:
This is typical of Settle. I leave my door unlocked all the time.
You’d be lucky to get any change out of £300,000 for a 3-bedroom house in Settle, so you can imagine the ‘wealth’ that lives there. And Settle is uncomfortably close to places like Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle (places specifically referred to in the Book Of Revelation) – the less salubrious inhabitants of which probably all got 50″ Plasma TVs for Christmas and were watching the news this morning.
Yes, they’re very trusting in Settle. Just not very bright.