OK, we can all see he has made a complete balls of getting the buoys cleaned, but that’s no reason not to be nice to poor old Jim Shalloo.  Yes, he said he’d get the job done.  Yes, he spends more of his time showing videos on his phone and delaying swims than he does actually cleaning buoys.  But still, nobody wants to see him in tears.  

Well, maybe Trevor does.  It’s easy to forget in the mists of time that Trevor Malone was the original Myrtlevillian solo Channel trailblazer.  Jim hasn’t forgotten, though, and he really looks up to Trevor.  So much so, that he takes Trevor’s “gentle banter” to heart. It might be fair comment that if Jim considers the buoys to be clean enough, you’d hate to see the state of his underpants.  But Trevor didn’t need to say it.  Jim took that one well, though.  The one that got him was when Trevor told him he was so useless, he couldn’t get a hat down in Sandycove.  That got him.

Why?  Well, as everyone knows, it’s simply impossible not to get a hat down in Sandycove.  Everyone gets a hat.  It’s like a kiddies birthday party. You can hardly step out of your car without Ned being across the road to present you with a hat.  Monday Hats, Tuesday Hats, Lappy Hats etc etc.  So Trevor’s statement that Jim wouldn’t get one – well, just look at the result (and the evil grin on Mr. Malone).    Ah, Trevor.  Stop that now.

Give Jim a smile when you see him and tell him he’s doing a great job with the cleaning.  He isn’t, but he needs the boost.  Trevor’s at him.