OH dear, what a sorry state the world is in.

The global recession is now looming over everything and everyone to the extent, we are now told, that an increasing number of people are turning to alcohol and/or drugs.

The head of the Alcohol and Drugs Service, Michael Gafoor, observes that anxieties about jobs, finances and the like are pushing up stress levels to the extent that people feel they need chemical help to deal with them.

At the same time, as I go about my daily duties reporting the business news, the contrast between the boom times of 2007 and the bust we are in right now becomes ever clearer.

Apart from the latest figures from the Jersey Financial Services Commission – which this week revealed a £10 billion fall in bank deposits and a nearly £41 billion decrease in funds – large American banking groups who used to think nothing of entertaining a hundred or more at a three-course lunch presentation are happy to provide a couple of plates of sandwiches.

Seminars which once attracted several hundred participants at £300 or more are grateful for the 50 or so who can justify the extravagance. As someone said the other day, in times like these, seminars doling out doom and gloom are not the type of thing you send your staff along to – especially if they are about to lose their job.

The trust industry, which employs more than 3,000 people here, is the latest to find that the amount of work coming in is not as great as it used to be. Last week Hawksford, one of the larger organisations, employing up to 150 in a spanking new glass-fronted office opposite the bus station, axed nearly ten per cent of its workforce.

At least the management had the bottle to send out a formal statement, instead of trying to conceal their actions behind a slow trickle of job cuts like some other firms.

But I have to say I would have found the press release more than a little galling if I had been on the receiving end. It said the company had made ‘a small number’ of redundancies – and then went on to confirm that 13 people, no fewer, had lost their jobs. Whether 13 is a small number or not depends, I suppose, on your starting point, but in Jersey 13 is quite a significant figure. Not grossly significant, but significant none the less.

Rumour has it that the end of the job losses are nowhere near in sight, especially in the banking sector. As the grim reality rolls on, the larger European-based organisations will be seeking to placate their respective governments.

And after the recent exposures in the international media about tax evasion ,the very mention of the word ‘offshore’ is likely to make more than a few eyebrows twitch.

The ripple effect is likely to hit not just the high street, but also the services that were once de rigeur. The latest round of cost cuts seem to affecting workers’ perks, such as health insurance schemes.

At the same time, those who are still in work are having to adapt to a constantly changing environment, being asked to take on extra tasks to compensate for the empty chairs left by the ‘restructuring’ process.

In the main, most of us are happy to do what we can to keep the wheels turning, but inevitably there comes a point where the strain begins to show.

Stress does not just affect mental health, it shows up in all sorts of physical ways and can lead, if unchecked, to a place from which some people never return.

So yes, I can understand where Mr Gafoor is coming from. I, too, sometimes joke about needing a gin and tonic instead of a coffee. But in reality, it is no laughing matter and, however good the counselling services may be, our government needs to take these signals very seriously indeed.

Read the signs!
I DO wonder sometimes whether our education system is doing its job properly.

The reason for my wonderings is that a remarkable number of Island residents seem unable to read. Either that, or they are simply too bloody-minded to pay attention to public notices.

My main gripe is based at that well-trodden path around Queen’s Valley reservoir, which has become something of a circuit for potential marathon runners – more than are probably desirable for those wanting a quiet walk. Actually I don’t have a problem with it, and sometimes, when I’m feeling energetic enough, I join them.

The people I do have a problem with are those who bring bags of bread to feed the assorted ducks, geese, moorhens, and others. There are notices around the reservoir edge, prominently displayed, asking people politely not to feed the birds.

The notice also gives clear reasons for the request, proving that it isn’t just a killjoy action. For instance, the birds have enough to eat from their natural habitat. They don’t need our white soggy bread and hardened crusts. Even in winter, there are plenty of other more juicy and nutritious things for them to munch on.

The notice goes on to say that if you feed the birds, your human food you are doing two things: you are making the water dirty, and you are attracting vermin and disease.

Can the compulsive bread feeders not get enough pleasure from watching wildlife doing its own natural thing? Or maybe they harbour some romantic notion gleaned from Mary Poppins about Feeding the Birds, Tuppence a Bag (for those who remember the film).

Apart from the water pollution, the birds have come to expect their regular extra nibbles, and geese in particular can get quite aggressive towards passers-by.

This water, remember, is a reservoir and feeds into the public water system. Even if you are on borehole water, you could spare a thought for those of us who have to drink the stuff from the tap.

As for the vermin, there are probably enough rats in the Island as it is. Thanks for attracting them to a woodland walk.