‽istis ponders something perhaps, possibly, maybe pertaining to other things‽ (weekending
February 17th 2024)
This week ‽istis
has been pondering something pertaining to other things (and the virtue of
having a snappy title)…
We said farewell to a car, pushing just shy of 200,000 miles on
the clock. Yes, I know it might have been nice to get there, but actually what
is so significant about a round number with lots of 0s on the end - unless it
is the rounding of the income and tax paid by the Prime
Minister[i];
or the difference in 0s between the pay and benefits of the highest paid
compared with the lowest paid in a company, or of the richest small percentage
of people and the poorest greater percentage people across the world; or a
rounding up – or down – of the % that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by in
the last three months of 2023 tipping the UK into recession[ii]?
So, there was a final pat on the bonnet, a final ‘thank you!’ to
a (now) inanimate object - fuelled perhaps by a tendency to anthropomorphism
from hearing and reading too many ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’[iii]
and similar stories (oh what was the name of that plucky rescue helicopter) and the occasional naming of a car - the late lamented ‘Cordelia’, a fine Citröen 2CV named after
those anguished lines of King Lear: “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have
life, / And thou no breath at all?”[iv]
But thanks seemed appropriate:
‽ for important family trips: to weddings, to births, to
funerals, carrying ashes, the now very occasional trip when we were all in the
car together like in the old days, visits to relatives including for the last
time
‽ for lots and lots of work miles
‽ for journeys to and from fun and memorable events: theatre
trips, dog walks, days out, holidays, carrying music stuff, visiting friends
‽ for trips for the necessaries – shopping, moving boxes (lots of
boxes)
‽ for safe journeys in the snow, in torrential rain, early in
the morning, late at night
‽ for reliability – and, by extension, thanks to the designers,
the manufacturers and the mechanics.
There has always been anxiety, regret and a need for an apology,
mind: at the fossil fuel required for nearly 200,000 miles of travel; for the
emissions – ‘green house’ gases, diesel particulate in particular. There has
been a cost… And an apology to the neighbours, for ours was never the cleanest!
Meanwhile, the words of a service assistant at the car’s ‘home’
garage have stayed with me:
“Look after your car and your car will look after you!”
Surely a good line to encourage regular servicing, but ‽istis
wonders what might be different if the word ‘car’ was replaced with something
else: planet, family, friends, health… and you might like to add your own
ideas? A ‘quid pro quo’ formula for life, possibly a little akin to ‘the Golden
Rule’[v]?
And we may now have even got back to the weekending’s theme as another
news story from this week can perhaps be woven in to support the idea of something
pertaining to other things?
A newspaper article highlighted that: ‘One of London’s last
remaining gentlemen’s clubs, the Garrick, has taken the highly unusual step of
expelling a member, amid rising tensions over the club’s unwillingness to
change its men-only membership rules.’[vi]
- not that the quite possibly
over-privileged, but necessarily entertaining male members of the Garrick Club[vii]
in London may need further publicity.
It is the comment in the article from one member, Stephen Fry,
that attracted ‽istis’ attention as apparently ‘Fry acknowledged he felt
“ashamed and mortified by the continuing exclusion of women from our club”.’ The
content of an email from Stephen Fry is quoted:
“I fear that I’ve been lax about either resigning, campaigning
or making any kind of a noise about this. It’s a mixture of indolence and
reluctance to get involved in fusses, allied with a natural incompetence at and
fear of political infighting, committees, round robins and all the antagonism
and heat they generate.”
And as other news (e.g: UN News | Global
perspective Human stories) is read, listened to, or watched this week[viii],
‽istis wonders whether Fry’s list of qualities might pertain to other things? Whether
·
being
lax about campaigning or making any kind of noise
·
being
indolent
·
being
reluctant to get involved in fusses
·
having
a natural incompetence and fear of political infighting, committees, round
robins and all the antagonism and heat they generate
may constitute an
explanation…
…though not
necessarily an excuse‽
©‽istis
NB:
further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t
necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’:
@Pistis_wonders.
X/Twitter ‘follows’ and
respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68253857
apparently just over £2.2m in earnings and £508,308 of tax…
[iv] https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/lear/section12/
& with apologies to Citröen, especially after producing such a
car! Time for a lovely e-/hybrid re-iteration, please!
[v]
Please see previous blogs, including for references: https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2021/04/pistis-reclaims-golden-rule-weekending.html
& https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2023/08/pistis-ponders-on-and-on-parliament-of.html
[vi] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/13/the-garrick-expels-colin-brough-tensions-over-men-only-stance
[vii] https://www.garrickclub.co.uk/ “…that
it would be better that ten unobjectionable men should be excluded than one
terrible bore should be admitted…” from the original assurance of the committee.
[viii]
Though ‘In many countries across the world, a significant number of people
consistently avoid the news, and more broadly, news consumption is declining,
interest in news is down, and more occasional selective news avoidance growing.’
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/five-things-news-media-can-do-respond-consistent-news-avoidance
