Taking offence is the national pastime, people do it at weekends instead of barbecues
2 minute read time.
FormerMember
I was sitting at my desk preparing invoices and work sheets earlier this afternoon wearing my usual office wear, flip flops, jogging bottoms & t shirt. Playing away at the side of me was Radio 4. It's such a nice way to go to work, and the only thing missing is a picturesque view out of the office (middle bedroom) window. However the downside is that work slows to a crawl when something good [on radio] diverts me. But since the beast that dare not speak it's name started it's fight within me I don't measure time by conventional means. Said work came screeching to a halt when the afternoon play started, normally it meanders along towards conclusion quite happily without either my approval or condemnation, however today I was trapped within the first few minutes. When the central character is suspended from work by an "inappropriate comment" and he can't figure out what he might have said. I relate to this subject completely, being a citizen in this mad cap world of the politically correct militia. Quoting directly from this play "Taking offence is the national pastime, people do it at weekends instead of barbecues" it was a perverse pleasure to sit and listen to this play, based on a subject that particularly annoys me.
During this play the line "I would get a fairer trial in Zimbabwe" was used, and this, for the most, is how I am made to feel quite often by the Trisha or Jeremy Kyle society. We creep around in a world where we are afraid to speak in clear and unequivocal language. Our every utterance has to be weighed and thought out in advance, unless we are in company of others we know and trust. Nobody can seriously make me believe that the same person who asks me if I 'have had a pleasant shopping experience Sir' stands in the pub watching football and utters the passionate phrase "I really think that the referee's parentage is questionable and he should visit an optometrist at the earliest opportunity" So I feel I need to continue writing my blog as if I am a Chinese or Soviet dissident. The reader will draw the parallel he or she wishes from the content, I will merely provide the means to do so.
All that came before does mean that my posts will need careful crafting and much re-drafting, if not redacting. It will become a pleasure to hone my meagre ability to communicate. Learning is a life long business and I have always enjoyed adding to my basic Comprehensive education. Life, and the struggle to provide has always prevented me furthering my education until children flew the coop. This new year brings me new opportunity, I will grab hold with a roar of pleasure.
As I complete this I am accompanied by a wonderful satire on radio: The News at Bedtime. A parody on the same stupidity, how apt.
