It’s my second year at university and I’m still loving it, especially when I try new things. Last weekend was such an opportunity, as one of the biggest food festivals came to the city. Newcastle’s stunning Wylam Brewery is the perfecting setting for a great day out. It can be found in Exhibition Park, a place I know very well, having lived next to it throughout my first year at university. My friends and I arrived at the brewery and our first plan of action was to purchase tokens, which we could then exchange for a plethora of street food. It was £4 a token, which I first thought was quite expensive; however, in the current economic climate this could actually be considered reasonable to relatively cheap. After purchasing our tokens, it was time to grab a pint. There were so many options—from beers, ciders, lagers and IPAs, with the majority being craft. These certainly weren’t cheap but you don’t expect them to be when they’re not your typical branded stuff. I went for a pint of IPA called ‘Beyond the Dream’, which was exactly what I wanted; however, it was very strong. It’s fair to say that, after a couple of these, you would certainly begin to feel it. It was £8 a pint, a price that would normally make me wince, but I already knew it would be an expensive day and I’d tried to save accordingly. Pint in hand, it was time to experience the main event: food! I started with a Thai-inspired fish taco. Whilst the taco shell itself wasn’t very large, they definitely didn’t hold back when filling it up. The flavours were amazing, a good mix of sweet and savoury with a spicy kick that was subtle, but which did the job. I noticed an odd texture to the fish then I realised that it wasn’t fish at all but a plant-based substitute. It’s amazing how close the flavour was, but the texture was a little off-putting. It was probably my least favourite dish of the day, but that’s not to say it wasn’t tasty. And the portion size was a little stingy when you considered the price of the token. All in all, it was a great event that saw me try new foods and flavours I wouldn’t normally have opted for.

Throughout my childhood, I listened to my grandad as he regaled long, awe-inspiring tales of his days working at the coal face. Fourteen years down your local pit will leave you with no end of stories…from gas leaks to cave-ins. 6-year-old me was fascinated by these tales, as most young boys would be. I eagerly listened as he told me about his experiences, trials and tribulations as a miner. It’s safe to say that mining communities were some of the most resilient and tightly-knit in England during the 1970s and 1980s. Endless graft and thankless work bonded the miners and the rest of their community followed closely behind. One of the most crucial parts of a colliery was its brass band. Brass bands were particularly popular amongst miners. Even today, events like the Durham Miners Gala see thousands of miners pour into the city to proudly honour their heritage. The country's finest brass bands take pride of place. Unfortunately, despite the nostalgia that surrounds them, brass bands are dying out. The simple answer as to why this is concerns a lack of interest. Several developments, following their heyday in the 1970s and 80s, have led to brass bands’ gradual decline. One of these is the upsurgence of popular music streaming platforms, such as Spotify and YouTube. In the past, mining communities enjoyed listening to brass music, but as more and more collieries closed, their brass bands also went the way of the dodo. The few brass bands that have survived are living precariously—they’re low on members, short on funds, and they’re struggling to gather an audience. The lack of interest from younger generations is a real shame. Brass bands are such an important part of our heritage in the UK, and to see them slowly die a painful death is something I struggle with. Why should you care? Chances are that most of you reading this will have never had an interest in brass music. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be that way for the next generation. The first few years of our lives are the most formative. It’s a time when we’re more impressionable, quicker at learning, and hungrier for creativity than at any other point in our existence. I’m not saying that all children should be indoctrinated into brass bands, nor should they be forced to learn a particular instrument, but there have been significant studies carried out by major universities and institutions that prove the profound beneficial effects that learning a musical instrument can have on a child’s development. Statistics show that it can make them more creative, more adaptable and more sociable. Those are some great skills to harness, wouldn’t you agree? These skills can be gleaned from learning to play any musical instrument, from the piano to the electric guitar to the drums. So why do I recommend brass? Learning to play a brass instrument helps to strengthen your lungs. In several cases, and contrary to popular belief, it actually improves breathing conditions such as asthma, as it teaches you how to control your breathing and your airflow. Additionally, the social skills that come from playing in a band are invaluable. The brass band community is ever so welcoming to new, younger players. No one will ever put you down for not being ‘good enough’ or ‘not learning quickly enough’. To this day, I clearly remember my first experience with an adult brass band. All week, my 9-year-old-self had been nervous. I questioned myself on whether they would like me, how intimidated I would surely feel… within that first two-hour long Friday night rehearsal, I already felt a part of something special. That’s what a brass band is and that’s everything it stands for. A brass band is a family.

For anyone not familiar with this particular generation, Gen Z refers to anyone born between 1997 and 2012. As of 2023, many Gen Zs are becoming teenagers—some are already in their early twenties. As someone of this generation, I’m puzzled as to why many older people seem to be so prejudiced and wary of the ‘young ‘uns of today’ (as my extremely northern grandparents would describe us). This distrust appears to stem from the behaviour of a few rowdy outliers (they seem to forget that they’d have had rebels in their own generations). Another huge reason behind the flak Gen Zs receive comes from their adoption of social media. I can confidently say that not all people between the age of 9 and 24 are horrid, juvenile delinquents! However, for a few reasons, my generation, in comparison to older ones, admittedly has fewer social skills. Physical, face-to-face interactions can feel alien and unnatural to many young people today. Do I mean that every single person in this age range is unable to communicate in a real world scenario? No, not at all. But there is a significant number of young people who lack social understanding and communication skills to such an extent that they come across as ignorant, uncooperative people with whom it’s difficult to engage. Unfortunately, such issues can quickly become stereotypes. Before long, the whole generation becomes tarred with the same brush, and every single young person is branded ‘uncooperative’ or ‘socially awkward’. On occasion, this can be completely true. Gen Z’s lack of social skills can lead to confrontation between parents and teenagers, or young workers and managers, which can result in an immense distrust in the social capabilities of the whole generation. Unfortunately, for myself and my peers who can socialise in the traditional way, i.e. face-to-face, we often face surprise and sometimes disbelief—as many older people do not expect any form of conversation from people my age. Gen Z’s perceived lack of social skills, in my opinion, is synonymous with the rise in popularity of social media. So many of us were born into a world where physical experiences and digital platforms were two very different things; the latter seemingly less scary. This, coupled with being unable to mix during Covid, formed a slippery slope. Instead of creating social bonds in schools, face-to-face, conversations and friendships moved online—with platforms such as WhatsApp, and later SnapChat, effectively murdering the concept of physical relationships. Kids and teenagers poured their energies into learning how to digitally message each other in such a way that they avoided social rejection or being branded ‘uncool’. In-person interaction became less important or unnecessary. More and more of Gen Z’s social interaction became digitalised during lockdowns. And it’s only in recent years, as the generation entered the workplace, that it became clear how necessary in-person social skills are, and how far behind some young people are in this regard. That said, in reality, Gen Z is just as sociable as any other generation. After all, it’s our basic human instinct to be social. The problems begin when this socialising is not just carried out but wholly contained within online platforms instead of in the real world. So, what’s the answer? If you want to engage an ‘unsocial’ Gen Z, try not to instantly bring them down for their lack of social skills. Instead, work with them, help them to understand the basic principles of communication. Teach them how to effectively listen to others and the art of reading social situations. Help them form friendships and interests offline. I reiterate, Gen Z can communicate. They just need to be encouraged to do so. Written by an anonymous Gen Z.

In a matter of days, most of the restrictions we’ve been living under will be lifted. One of these is the recommendation to work from home; the government will leave it up to employers to decide whether they continue with remote working, a hybrid arrangement, or if they insist that the entire workforce returns to the office. Of course, there are many industries whose employees have never changed their working arrangements, because they cover key services or they’re front-facing/work directly with the public. Office workers and employees in other sectors, however, have been able to work from home during the pandemic, though this may now change. So, are we all raring to return to the office? Opinion is still divided. There are those that relish being back in the office, whilst others are counting down the days to returning with a sense of dread. There have even been some who have handed in their notice when asked to return to their employers’ headquarters, such is their desire to continue working from home. I read about one household, where the husband had been working remotely for the last fifteen months. There wasn’t much space in their home, and he’d been working from a desk in the corner of their lounge. He was in no rush to go back to his employer’s; however, the rest of the family were desperate for things to return to normal. The kids, who were instructed not to make any noise during working hours. The wife, who wanted to use the lounge during the day as a family room, but who was instead relegated to the kitchen. In their situation, the husband/father permanently working from home would be disastrous, even if he couldn’t see it himself. Few people, back in March 2020, would have foreseen the length of time the pandemic would impact our daily lives. Initially, arrangements like this family had to endure may have been tolerable, because they were deemed to be short-term—but living like they do, day in, day out, year upon year…it’s not realistic. I’ve also seen a number of discussions online about employers who promised a hybrid approach to working when things returned to normal, i.e. a few days at home and a few days in the office, but who have now reneged on such agreements. Other companies have gone as far as to ask their employees what they would like, with regards to their working situation, before deciding that everyone must be office based—despite the fact their employees had overwhelmingly plumped for remote/hybrid working. You would, in their position, think, ‘What was the point of all that?!’ As someone who isn’t as productive when working from home (I have a lovely, separate office, and no kids to keep quiet—I’m just very easily distracted), I’m happy to work from my employers’ offices. I just need scientists to invent teleporters to get rid of my commute, then life would be perfect. This is my personal choice from a privileged position; had my girls still been toddlers that needed to be silenced for eight hours a day, or I was required to be productive, sat on my bed, my laptop on my knees, for the full working day, I’m not sure I’d want to be a homeworker. I truly sympathise with the family mentioned above, and many others across the country who may be at loggerheads over the issue. The question of whether to return to the office, in my opinion, is not just one for the employee, but of their whole family if the decision is likely to impact everyone in the house. If an employee doesn’t agree with their employer’s decision to return to the office, of course, they are free to vote with their feet and find another position that is happy to accommodate them; that said, the job market is not quite as easy to conquer as it may have been, pre-pandemic. Whether a key worker or home worker, it’s not really a case of ‘back to the grindstone’. It’s been bloody hard work for most people these last fifteen months…did we ever leave the grindstone to return to it?