Coming to terms with Rejection, and Idea Piracy

24th August 2012

Dear Marie,

Firstly I must offer my apologies for not being in touch for the last week or so. I have been waiting on tenterhooks for my invitation to interview at Edinburgh Trams to drop through the letterbox. As you apparently were aware all along, this invitation would NOT BE FORTHCOMING.

As stated in the application form, final interviews for the position of TRAM GENERAL MANAGER were to be held this week, with a decision being made shortly afterwards. It is with great sorrow therefore that I have now concluded that my application must have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

I console myself with the thought that you must have identified an individual with even more AWESOME IDEAS than myself, perhaps someone even more dedicated to Edinburgh Trams than I?

So you can imagine my ASTONISHMENT today Marie, when I read in THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS that Edinburgh Trams is to offer tram trips round the tram depot to members of the public! You will undoubtedly recall, that this was MY IDEA, communicated to you in my email of 24^th July 2012 – ‘The Edinburgh Festival Tram Experience Mindmap’.  I was under the impression that these ideas would be held IN CONFIDENCE Marie, and today I see Transport Convener Lesley Hinds beaming from the centre pages of the Evening News, passing MY AWESOME IDEA off as one of her own! I would not be surprised if she is taking the cushy £80K EDINBURGH TRAM GENERAL MANAGER job for herself too!

As a long-term supporter of Edinburgh Trams, I am of course happy for my suggestions to be taken ON BOARD, but I do expect some sort of recognition for my contribution, Marie.

While it appears that I have been unsuccessful  in my application for the TRAM GENERAL MANAGER role, for whatever reason, I would like to reassure you that I wish to continue my quest to get ON BOARD the Edinburgh gravy-tram, and secure some sort of employment with EDINBURGH TRAMS in the future.  Perhaps as a consultant or some type of visionary?

In order to reassure you that I bear no ill feelings, I have come up with another GREAT IDEA which Ms Hinds will no doubt pilfer in due course. The aforementioned EVENING NEWS had an article the other day about some guy who had discovered an old horse-drawn Edinburgh tram being used as a garden shed in an allotment, and had restored it to its original condition. By incredible serendipity, the gauge of this old 1885 tram is apparently identical to our new TRAMS OF THE FUTURE! The gentleman in question has expressed the wish that his horse-drawn tram could be operated on Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

I think we should seriously consider this proposal, Marie. I personally would be willing to drive this horse-drawn tram up and down Princes Street (I already have the hat), and I believe it would be a massive attraction for tourists - even better than Edinburgh Council's abandoned ‘Giant Ferris Wheel Down a Hole’ idea.

We could charge at least £10 a trip, and run the tram back and forward along the tracks already laid on Princes Street. This would both generate revenue, and get the general public used to trams running in our city. As the lines are expected to lie unused for at least the next couple of years, we could run this revenue-generating horse-drawn tram service back and forward along Princes Street until such time that the new trams are ready to run!

How long do horses live, do you know?

In case you are having difficulty visualising this idea, I have prepared an artist’s impression of how I think it might look.

I look forward to seeing Lesley Hinds in next week’s Evening News passing this idea off as her own.

Keep in Touch,

Aldo Broon

Advisor, Visionary and supplier of AWESOME IDEAS for Edinburgh Trams RIGHT NOW