Conversation Snippets

A conversation that happened in a typical rush hour traffic jam in Reading:

Me: 'Look! Look! It's a heron sitting on the bank of the Kennet by the housing development!'

TB: 'I have to say I'm slightly disappointed.' 

Me: 'Why, it's incredible'. 

TB: 'I thought you were getting excited about the well placed apostrophe in that sign - Residents' Gym.'

Three Overheard Conversations:

'Are you okay now? I was sorry to hear you were out of action for so long.'
'Yes, I’m much better now thanks for asking. Do keep the sympathy coming though, there’s not a lot of it about up here.'

'Well they’re all men up there aren’t they?'

'I can’t believe he didn’t hold the door open for me!'
'I can’t believe you’d want him to!'

'Shit!'

'What have you done now?'

What's that supposed to mean?

'You really want me to go into this now?'

'No. Fine. I just texted a client and one of the words was changed by predictive text.'

'So?'

'It changed one of the words to spanked.'

'As if!'

'Look.'

'Oh. Have they texted anything back, maybe they didn't notice.'

'Only four question marks closely followed by four exclamation marks. What should I do????!!!!'
There is a pause for a moment interspersed with sporadic laughter.

'Look for a new job?'

'Shit!'

Your Country Needs You

I was chosen as a jury member in three trials during the first and only time I was called upon and initially it was an exciting prospect. Unfortunately it transpired that the reality was incredibly dull. There was a lot of sitting about but very little successful people watching as everyone was attempting to observe each other.

At one point a huge tree branch was brought into a court which caused quite a stir. Then the doors closed and those of us who were not jurors on that particular case were left to imagine what the tree branch was doing there, what it would do and whose side it was on. This kept me occupied till after lunchtime on the second day.

When I finally did get accepted onto the jury and took my seat it was disappointing to discover how uncomfortable they were. Also I was unlucky that the cases were all about exactly the same mundane and petty crime.

During the second trial a bouncer had been chosen by us all as foreman. He carefully ensured we had taken due consideration of all the available evidence and that everyone got their say. Two jurors who happened to share the same profession kept saying the person was guilty without being able to justify why. One juror could not grasp the concept of reasonable doubt no matter how many times it was explained to them. Another struggled overtly with the responsibility and did not want to find anyone guilty in case they could not sleep at night.

The whole process was repetitive, frustrating and at times left me quite exasperated.

I would ultimately look back favourably on the second trial because when we overran with our deliberation we were each offered coffee and a Twix chocolate bar. It would prove to be the highlight of the entire week.

Ideal World

I often wonder if the only society the human race will ever be able to co-exist in is a Dystopian one as discussed in ‘Brave New World’.  If life appears to be going too well many of us feel uncomfortable, myself included. 

Our inherent desire is to balance out what we perceive as good with bad. We immerse ourselves in mundane worlds and embrace routine often unconsciously, while at the same time voicing opinions of a need for change; constantly aiming to feel we have control of our own lives and are living in a real not fantasy state of our own making.  

Many of us feel that through adversity our existence may ultimately lead us to a good place ‘Eutopia’, rather than no place ‘Utopia’. 

Encouraging our minds to deceive us.