We British like to complain. A lot. If we are not provided with sufficient material for our daily prarffarrflargnd at the morning's headlines (a rare occurrence), we have a rather sizeable arsenal to fuel our rants. Be it the weather, the economy, fuel prices, public transport, politics, or perhaps most importantly, the football, the common denominator for all the above revolves around the country we call home. For most of my life I have eagerly joined in with this thoroughly unpatriotic mockery, but over recent months spent abroad, I have had a small change of heart. I do heavily stress my use of the word small (old habits die hard and all), but whilst isolated from Blighty, have I actually discovered a residue of patriotism within me?
The short answer, I think, is no. Sorry. But I will go as far though as to say this: I am indeed very nostalgic. I miss the accent. I miss people driving on the CORRECT side of the road (I'm sorry, but just because you drive on the right doesn't make it 'right'). I miss the constant drizzle. I miss our two days of summer. And strangely, I also miss the typical British rudeness. Here I can ask a stranger for directions and instead of coming face to face with a man who is looking at me as if I have just farted, I stand a good chance of receiving an answer. The reliability and usefulness of the answer, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. There are probably plenty of other things that I haven't got round to mentioning. But I think that there is one thing I miss the most: I miss complaining about not liking any of the things I have mentioned above.
Tuesday 22 November 2011
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"If I was a superhero who could fly and be invisible, that would be the best..."
Ah yes, superheroes. The subject of many children's, and indeed some adult's dreams. At some stage in our long or short lives, each one of us has had this discussion with ourselves: "if I had a superpower, what would it be?" and it is this question which shall be the topic for today's blog.
Although each of us are unique, the primary basis of the decision can be split into three main categories: domestic uses and enjoyment, the ability to do good, and the ability to do evil. I sincerely hope that nobody reading this would base their decision around the latter, but the choice between the first two options is where most of us will struggle. Obviously the correct approach would be to instantly go for the selfless route towards heroism, throwing caution to the wind and dedicating one's life to the greater good. Not to mention sacrificing one's dignity and donning an unflatteringly tight costume and forgetting what order to put on your underwear. However, this is only an ideal and for many of us (myself included), the lure of a supernatural ability is far too tempting to not focus even slightly of the personal benefits that might come from it.
When having this discussion with a certain someone (see, I don't just ramble, I do research for these posts too!), they mentioned how mind reading would be their preferred power. Although I cannot say that this gift would not be useful on some occasions, in fact, I can think of a few specific situations when I would have given anything for it, I am not so keen on it. Not only would it be highly invasive to enter the private thought space of another person (I strongly pity anybody who enters mine), but you might discover things that you never wanted to uncover. For me, ignorance is bliss. Furthermore, it does not cover the main area that a superhero needs to address: transportation. There is no use having the ability to stop a crime when you will have to use the infamously unreliable London public transport system to make your way there. Waiting in brightly coloured tights for several hours for a bus that is meant to come every 12 minutes isn't exactly the material for a blockbuster superhero film.
As some of you may have picked up (if you are as dedicated to watching Friends as me), the title is hand picked from many of the great lines of Chandler Muriel Bing. If we temporarily ignore his greed at picking two powers, his logic seems well thought through. He too has deduced the issue of transportation and addressed it by wishing for flight, and that too would be the power I would pick. The feeling of pure freedom, the ability to escape from earth's gravitational pull and move in whichever way your heart desires; I can't see why any other option would be considered, let alone why mind reading would ever enter into the equation.
Right, I think that pretty much concludes the longest and most thought through hypothetical debate that I have ever had, so I guess I should be going now. Until the next time, up up and away!
Although each of us are unique, the primary basis of the decision can be split into three main categories: domestic uses and enjoyment, the ability to do good, and the ability to do evil. I sincerely hope that nobody reading this would base their decision around the latter, but the choice between the first two options is where most of us will struggle. Obviously the correct approach would be to instantly go for the selfless route towards heroism, throwing caution to the wind and dedicating one's life to the greater good. Not to mention sacrificing one's dignity and donning an unflatteringly tight costume and forgetting what order to put on your underwear. However, this is only an ideal and for many of us (myself included), the lure of a supernatural ability is far too tempting to not focus even slightly of the personal benefits that might come from it.
When having this discussion with a certain someone (see, I don't just ramble, I do research for these posts too!), they mentioned how mind reading would be their preferred power. Although I cannot say that this gift would not be useful on some occasions, in fact, I can think of a few specific situations when I would have given anything for it, I am not so keen on it. Not only would it be highly invasive to enter the private thought space of another person (I strongly pity anybody who enters mine), but you might discover things that you never wanted to uncover. For me, ignorance is bliss. Furthermore, it does not cover the main area that a superhero needs to address: transportation. There is no use having the ability to stop a crime when you will have to use the infamously unreliable London public transport system to make your way there. Waiting in brightly coloured tights for several hours for a bus that is meant to come every 12 minutes isn't exactly the material for a blockbuster superhero film.
As some of you may have picked up (if you are as dedicated to watching Friends as me), the title is hand picked from many of the great lines of Chandler Muriel Bing. If we temporarily ignore his greed at picking two powers, his logic seems well thought through. He too has deduced the issue of transportation and addressed it by wishing for flight, and that too would be the power I would pick. The feeling of pure freedom, the ability to escape from earth's gravitational pull and move in whichever way your heart desires; I can't see why any other option would be considered, let alone why mind reading would ever enter into the equation.
Right, I think that pretty much concludes the longest and most thought through hypothetical debate that I have ever had, so I guess I should be going now. Until the next time, up up and away!
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