Yesterday I, like thousands of other Londoners, felt irresistibly drawn to the wide open spaces of our city’s parks. Our otherwise grey streets were near deserted of vehicles but upon the snowy white flat fields of Weavers Fields behind Bethnal Green Road a multitude of people reclaimed the space and created a new kinship with each other as they frolicked in the best snow that we have had in living memory.
Snowballs whizzed past my head as I photographed the army of snowmen growing out of the ground. For once, the simple pleasure of play – for children and grown-ups alike -was enough. For one glorious day the gift of our natural world was better than any gadget or toy.
Meanwhile, somewhere in cyberspace, an idea was forming… why not have a light-hearted snowball fight in the very heart of our city, right where the bankers of RBS are busy screwing over our chances of mitigating climate change.
Not for nothing is RBS better known to me these days as the Oil Bank of Scotland. This delightful institution was one of many banks that were bailed out of financial crisis by our government late last year.
It is now principally owned by British tax payers, so we are all now unwittingly helping to fund huge investments in continued oil exploitation and new coal: RBS are prime investors in E.ON, the German energy company intent on building a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. Why should we be paying for this? RBS are taking huge risks with our future to reap massive profits (with us funding the fallout when they spend more than they have), so we thought the bankers might like to take a little risk on a collision with a snowball.
On my way to the specified meeting site I ran into my cousin, who as it happens, now works for RBS, a fact of which I was unaware until today. My cousin isn’t a banker, but he does have an extremely nice house full of beautiful things where I spent Christmas (thankyou Matthew). Obviously the mortgage needs to be paid somehow (that’s what he tells me – such is the way that people justify their employment and corresponding high wages).
Although I would always insist that it is possible to work for someone more ethical or choose to live more lightly this left me feeling slightly compromised about embarking on a snowball fight with employees. However, this was never intended to be more than a bit of fun designed to highlight the more serious issue behind it, so I was soon snapping away with a big smile. Thankfully most workers took the whole event in the spirit it was intended and many of those brave enough to step through the swing doors faced the deluge of snow with good grace.
They were offered their own snowballs and invited to throw them back at us. It is really quite hard to get too cross about a snowball fight, with even the police finding it hard to keep a straight face.
After our supply of snow had been exhausted we all dispersed in different directions to head back to work, with business no doubt resuming as usual. Hopefully we entertained the staff of RBS, who gathered in the hallway and on the balconies to watch our antics. Matthew tells me it was the highlight of their day.
And maybe one day he, and they, will think long and hard about what they are collectively contributing to. A baking planet of the possible future will profit no one. A planet which we all respect and enjoy will be a far more joyous place for everyone.
Similar Posts:
- Smash the Piggy Piñata at the Annual International Banking Conference
- The Great Climate Swoop – the mass action of the year!
- Protest against RBS’s investment into Tar Sands
- Super Christmas Market at Somerset House!!
- Santa Claus is coming to Te-on!
Hey this is a great write up to a wonderful day and love the pictures, they show the sense of humourous humuliation we were able to dish out to the BANKSTERS…
JJX
Absolutely brilliant – I am proud to know you – let alone be somewhat distantly related- Fantastic.
so wish i was there for this one.
btw, there’s a huge RBS building right next to my office. If it is still standing for a while, a snow-fight at the Delhi RBS is definitely a possibility in the foreseeable future..
Screw you environmentlists
Hey swampy – go take your climate aggression out on someone else. There are no bankers in 250B, just support and technical staff trying to clean up the banking mess.
Good to see that you are wasting you time throwing snow balls when others are working. You may point the finger at banks, when really it is the lack of government regulation is to blame for the current situation. Lending money to energy companies makes sense, at least we know they are going to pay back their loans unlike you lazy students. If you want to throw snowballs go and see Sir Fred.
Tree huggers
Hello Mr Employee,
IT WAS LUNCHTIME. You weren’t working, nor were we. After lunch we ALL went back to work…
Such a stereotypical response… yawn.
I’m glad to see that this got around the RBS workers, thought it might – what a lovely bunch of people with no conscience. We all have a choice in how we live our lives, and you have chosen to work for a morally (and literally!) bankrupt company. There are other options.
x
What a bunch of fools. Who do you think funds your hardship funds and bursaries for University not to mention all of you who have your ‘means tested’ tuition fees paid for you by….none other than all us greedy bankers who are working, paying into the economy and basically funding your lazy lifestyle not to mention any medical or dental treatment you receive (Im assuming you cant afford private!) – do some proper research and pick on the people who actually caused this! PS – not working and NOT paying taxes does NOT help kickstart the economy during desperate times you might want to bear that in mind!!
Im off to have another glass of Dom Perignan
Okay, RBS employees who clearly aren’t working. I’ve posted a few of your inane responses but I’m not posting anymore. WE’RE NOT STUDENTS and WE WORK TOO. Get a life, and a new job.
I’m too rich from trading oil the last few years to bother with your tree hugging rubbish..
Get a real job. Work for a bank
this is a quality blog, the shot of the guy in the red jumper needs to get into the papers it is amazing. i work at the bank, things are pretty difficult at the moment, and this was a breath of fresh air. i am embarrassed by the rbs responses so far – what a bunch of bankers.
Bunch of idiotic students
RBS aren’t even in that building its ABN AMRO
RBS are next door and will probably stay there if the takeover doesn’t go through
pathetic – you lot honestly think that all of us working in 250 Bishopsgate are loaded. 99 % of us are just trying to make a living and paying taxes so that tossers like you can loaf about .
I work for ABN and the building you attached is originally an ABN building and I was in the building at the time.
Given the situation, if anyone, professional or activist threw a snowball with intentions to hit me in the head (eleventh image from the bottom); would have resulted of one us going to the hospital and the other going to jail (me). Yes, I’m American, and I do stand up for myself (that is why we are the best country in the world! And, 80% of the British want live there.) – How terrible, as it looks, not one RBS employee had any sort of retort of the child play.
Okay, I lied, I’ve posted a few more. If only to show RBS up! These RBS employees can’t even read. Neither do they do any work. And some are violent. You are hanging yourselves with your own rope! Hurrah for anon! The voice of sanity in an otherwise absolutely true-to-stereotype bunch of wankers, sorry bankers…
Give me a shout anon, you’ll find we’re a good crowd to hang out with, and we’re trying to make the world a better place for all xxxx lots of kisses to you.
Everyone was quite happy with banks during the boom years. Happy for RBS to be the largest corporate tax payer in the UK, happy for banks to lend to sub-prime borrowers so they could get on the housing ladder, happy for bankers to buy cars, and clothes and Starbucks all creating jobs in the economy. Not any of you, nor Gordon Brown, nor any government had a bad thing to say during the good times.
And just remember that every member of staff in that building is a tax payer, a shareholder, a customer and an employee. They’ve been hit four times harder than anyone who threw a snowball.
Shame that ‘light hearted snowball fights’ can turn aggressive and become representative of global issues and struggles. A similar thing (the aggressive bit)happened in Dulwich Park. Schools closed so masses of kids enjoying the snow. A snowball fight became ‘boisterous’ and the cafe called the police.
5 police cars, 2 police vans and a police dog carrier arrived to break up a kids snowball fight! I believe some arrests were made. If you had facility for images on comments, I would post one of the fleet of police vehicles outside the park.
It was closed the next day, so the little kids had to play in the road. The older ones went elsewhere to have a snowball fight.
Lunacy
Time for corporate mans to pay for the damage they caused
Rasta Nah Work for CIA
Seen
What is wrong with working for a bank? The generous wages (not to mention bonuses) help to keep the petrol in my hummer, my wife in fur coats and my kids get to eat all the rich and nutritious dolphin meat they need.
Are we really that different – you crusty folk and us attractive bankers?
We both agree that additional airport runways will reduce the price of airfares
We both agree that Iraq was necessary in obtaining middle eastern oil.
We both agree that recycling wastes more energy than it saves.
Can’t we all just get along?
If you tree-hugging morons are such good friends with the environment, why are you using non-biodegradable carrier bags for your snowballs? Where’s your bag for life? There aren’t even holes in the bottom so you’re pretty much responsible for any babies suffocating in 2009.
Look I an I just a try to make some doh some Me family don’t starve, I nos Banks are Big but Big isn’t always Best, UNDERSTAND
Jah Forever
Regardless of which side of this argument they fall on (and there are many – it is not simply black and white), does no-one here appreciate the irony of a climate change protest fuelled by the deepest snowfall in the last 18 years?! Tickles me!!
Its not true that noone had anything to say against the banks in the “Good” boom times – I did, but noone was listening. It is obvious that if you irresponsibly overlend to people who can only afford it during “boom” times we will all end up in the shit – and I could see that ten years ago just as clearly as now: and I can also clearly see that if you burn all the rainforests plus all the old, squashed rainforests from under the ground from millions of years ago (= oil) eventually you end up in even worse shit. You can do maths, right? Its very simple. Add carbon=Hot.
You need to lighten up! What is wrong with NOT working!! Last time I looked,life was for living, not for being a bad tempered curmudgeon who has forgotten how to enjoy one day of snow and dances at the bonfire of the burning world.
The tone of the “banker” comments here is much more aggressive and unpleasant than that of the “treehuggers”.
Hug a tree, you might feel better and it wont hurt you. If you think you have no choice but to work, in a bank or whatever, you could try some imagination exercises. You do have alternatives.
WTF?!? You’re complaining about bankers and yet you’re happy to spend christmas in your cousin’s “extremely nice house full of beautiful things”. Hugging trees is a nice hobby as long as someone else is footing all the bills?
I take your point on the morally and literally bankrupt company, though.
Most of the people complaining today were the ones buying houses, borrowing multiple times their limit and then spending it like there no tomorrow.. The regulator (FSA) and the Govt. allowed this to happen. EVERYONE (not just the banks) took advantage of cheap credit.
Where is all the corporation and Income Tax that banks paid? ..No doubt most of it was wasted by our inefficient Govt. and it looks like they haven’t saved any of the billions either during the good times. People are jumping on the bandwagon and zooming in on the bankers just like they all did to borrow and spend, spend, spend…banks just found the most profitable way to facilitate that…Its not right, its not wrong its called Capitalism!
Capitalism only works if you go through peaks and troughs of an economic cycle … Like it or not GREED is a fundamental aspect of it and it boils over sometimes. If you don’t like it go and live in Cuba or China! There is no way the banks could have made those profits during the good years without non-bankers reckless and greedy behaviour too.
We ALL rinsed the system and now its just the bankers fault??
I REST MY CASE
As for the snow fight it was missiles thrown against people with no ammunition!…Funny but hardly a fair fight was it??! Handing over one or two to RBS employees and then throwing 20 at them is no consolation:(
Joel, what is wrong with NOT working? Ask that question to the hundreds of thousands of people with families to support who have and will be made redundant during these difficult times.
Btw, the girl with the cheetah print jacket is gorgeous!
You are all a bunch of losers. You all enjoyed the good times when you could leverage your small salaries to buy a flat…didn’t you like to buy with borrowed money beyond your capacity of paying it back?
That’s the price to pay.
in response to Joel
Its not true that noone had anything to say against the banks in the “Good” boom times – I did, but noone was listening.
- yeh, and what did you do about it?
Wow, grown ups are angry. I love that people are trying different ways to make a point about very important issues. People need to lighten up abit and start caring about the people around them and not just themselves, family and friends. It’s just nice to see that there are some people would like there to be a world that can still be inhabited when my children and grandchildren are alive.
Also Mr Angry American, people may want to live in America but hardly anyone want’s to live with Americans
xxx
Although I believe that much of the protest was in good spirits, there were a few quite aggressive protestors. We all would like to see a reduction of the use of fossil fuels, but I’m not so sure a protest like this really achieves this. Maybe if you had snowballed MP’s or people who could make a change. Otherwise you might as well jsut turn up to any office or factory and snowball them as it would have just the same effect.
I also found the snowball barrage received by the pregnant lady a little bit poor taste.
Hey all…
Nice article! No reason why you can’t work for RBS and hug a tree
Isn’t critising RBS employees for senior RBS management descisions a bit like critising all civil servants for the war in Iraq? Its a huge company and only a handful know anything about these investments and fewer have anything to do with them.
Responsibility for change lies with everyone – not just city workers. Good on you for expressing your opinion in a light hearted way though and doing your bit for what you believe in…
Jesus… i’ve never witnessed such a load of shit in my life. I feared for the future of the financial markets before… if those commenting here from ABN/RBS etc are anything to go by we are truly screwed…
Group of people looking to draw attention to a cause throw snow balls at a glass window and a few people walking in and out of glass, yes glass doors get hit with snow (repeated in the parks of the country over the last few days). Any injuries? I think not. Response… threats of violence, comments about paying tax, students etc etc… I think the sport here wasn’t the throwing of snowballs it was banker baiting… you’ve truly been had.
Now get back to work…McKinseys are watching.
“Regardless of which side of this argument they fall on (and there are many – it is not simply black and white), does no-one here appreciate the irony of a climate change protest fuelled by the deepest snowfall in the last 18 years?! Tickles me!!”
Correct me if wrong, but does the deepest snowfall in the last 18 years not indicate climate change? Is the increasing regularity of extreme weather conditions not as much an indicator of climate change as global warming? Not so ironic now…
Another capitalist vs proletarian style rant. Who funds your education and assistance losers? Go get a job or just shut up.
You all a bunch of bloody time wasters’. If it was that fun, then do it on your own time and don’t fu*k up other peoples lunch time by blocking them in the building.
When I walk by your little display…which by the way I had no understanding of your message due to the lack of signs or chants….all I saw were a bunch of people waiting to get out of the building or back in.
Go back to work and if you’re going to protest them do it properly!
Oi!!
Can people realise that the name of the poster comes out below the message not above it please? My message was about the irony of throwing snowballs to protest against global warming ie. it would have made sense turning up on the hottest day of the year with water pistols, but snowballs?! Really now….
So stop having a pop at me for other peoples messages!
Joel
Joel, you have had a few messages directed your way haven’t you! Wrongfully accused! Sorry about my message. Now, Spider, as for you!…
I really like the girl wearing the leopard print top, you’re cute.
Fancy a drink some time?
(I’m a trader on level 2 of the building you attacked)
What baffles me is the sight of a snowball near an intended target. Everyone knows that girls can’t throw. And males who hang around with stupid hats on will throw like girls anyway. An excellent minor protest though. I hear on good authority that at least 2 traders were reduced to tears and one had to go home because someone called him a name.
get a life these RBS people are not the fat cats
In response to ‘what did I do about it?’ when I could see that it was silly for small branch mortgage advisers to tell people to lie about their income (as happened to a friend) and generally push too much credit…
I :
1) didn;t take out any credit
2) shared my view with friends/on internet things like this –
3) supported and promoted ’sustainable lifestyles’ and lived one myself as much as possible
4) am not in a position to influence wider society but I did what I could. I also wrote to my MP about that and some other issues. And continue to do so.
Its true that some people HAVE to work but if you didn;t, would you?
I do think that a lot of people HAVE to work becuase a lot of people keep making the economy faster and bigger so we all have to keep running to keep up. I believe that a more steady approach would allow us also to have nicer lives in general and not have to worry so much about mortgages etc, and we could then have a friendly snowball fight for fun and not get all het up about it.
These comments have been very interesting and I have learnt a lot. For the record I dont blame all bankers for all woes as some of them seem to think – but I do think that we all are responsible for the choices we make in life and shouldnt shirk them or say it was the managers fault. If you think you are living a good life, be proud, not angry, show is why its good; if you dont, then admit it and ask for a way out.
xx
So when’s the next one then?
Hello everyone, interesting discussion and amazing snow fight!
Just to remember all of you that there is more in the world than the UK and US… we, the people and communities in the South are suffering the most from this non-sense in the north… need to pay the bills? sure, everyone has! need to sustain the heart of a total unequal and unfair capitalistic system? that is up to you!
Sadly, now I realize more that the things will never change if we have comments (minds) so aggressive from people that is being sucked up by the system too.
Really, is not about being a ‘tree huger’ or a ‘corporate professional’, it is about being a human being!! take a vacation! go to the rainforest, the brazilian beaches, look around!! who is telling you to work everyday to pay the bills? capitalism!!!
dear snowballers and BANKSTERS
THe snow balls mentioned in guardian today !!! – like the London paper which published 2 pics and said it was a spontaneous event . the guardian also thinks it was spontaneous.. which is wonderful.. when organised dissent appears spontaenous then you know your sailing in the winds of public opinion !!!! — its time to get rid of a system that rewards greed and replace it with one of the millions of different forms of cooperative economic systems that have existed on this planet a lot longer than banking !!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/11/emissionstrading-carbon emissions
who is up for making this a regular monthly or seasonal PEOPLE vs BANKSTERS .. next one pillow fight ??? then water fight as the spring comes …. then tomatoes in ripe summer…
who is going to win ? PEOPLE or BANKSTERS.. ???
JJXX
The photos are broken unfortunately…
Sorry for that, it should be ok now