So, here we go! I promised I would never do it. To be perfectly honest, I never really understood it. But now, here, arriving in the Blogosphere is Damo!
I have always thought of blogs as a slightly self-indulgent passion. Makes me wonder why I’ve never bothered before now! I will try and keep this up-to-date and relevant as well as limiting any post to three observations; I have the attention span of a child with ADHD minus the mind-altering drugs, so I clearly would not expect anyone to put up with a long rant.
I will also try and keep this blog positive. A conversation earlier today talking about a colleague who made the brave leap out of the safety and relative security of the public sector – more on that some other time – reminded me of how we revel in a touch of schadenfreude every now and then. I have thought about this a lot; what is it about the British that makes us enjoy the misfortunes of others? Or at least the hope that others who do brave things will, eventually, come a cropper? Does it go back to the days when the Pilgrim Fathers left these shores to start new lives in the “New World”? I suspect back then, those who were left behind – our ancestors – talked about how it could never work and that the Pilgrims would some day be back with their tails between their legs. The origins of a modern day British Schadenfreude? Or just pure envy?
Speaking of envy, is it me or are students becoming more and more vulnerable to the promotion of excesses by some bars and clubs? I say this because of an article in the local rag, which I won’t bother posting a link for, but suffice it to say has got the blood of the local population boiling. I’m sure the drunken student caught pissing on the cenotaph in Southampton City Centre on Monday evening isn’t feeling particularly proud of himself. And no doubt I sound like a hopeless liberal when I ask, was it really entirely his fault? I live close to vomit alley in Southampton and witness students getting more and more drunk as the months go by. Perhaps I’m getting old, but I don’t ever recall losing the ability to walk and talk…ok, walk, as a consequence of booze. And I have never urinated on a war memorial. It worries me that many of the local bars and clubs are promoting anti-social behaviour and the like through the temptation of cheap alcohol. For that reason, I am only too happy to see controls on CERTAIN alcoholic products’ pricing. Although you can leave my New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc alone, it’s expensive enough! And no, this is not some sort of concealed envy for that sort of lifestyle; I have never regretted not going to university - more on the chip on my shoulder later.
And what about those comments you find at the end of online articles, such as those in the article I mentioned above? How can people find such hatrid and bile within themselves? Perhaps I’m just naïve. And envious. And self-indulgant.
Well, I make that three points that have entertained and bemused me today. Until the next time. My best, Damo x
