Lazy-Commuter
New Member
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A good point, JtM. It is a British thing, isn't it? Wanting it all done RIGHT NOW and moaning about the least inconvenience, rather than just enjoying the moment.
When the Tour de France came through a couple of years ago, there were two basic types of people:
1. Those (like my aunt and uncle) who bemoaned the road closures even though they probably wouldn't have used the car anyway and have a variety of shops, take aways and pubs within a mile of their house. Then sat indoors with the curtains shut and watched F1 on the telly.
2. Those (like us and our neighbours) who walked to the route, watched the whole event, enjoyed the carnival atmosphere round the village and the fact that the road closures meant we didn't have to play "dodge the nutter doing 60 in a 30 limit through the narrow village roads" in order to get to the fete on the village playing fields.
Have "we" (or at least some of us) always been inclined to moan about such things or is it a relatively recent thing? I suspect the latter, it seems to be an overflow from the whole consumerism thing: "I pay my taxes, I can do what I like, I don't need to think of the community".
People often seem to see themselves as "customers" rather than members of society. And forget that with rights come responsibilities.
When the Tour de France came through a couple of years ago, there were two basic types of people:
1. Those (like my aunt and uncle) who bemoaned the road closures even though they probably wouldn't have used the car anyway and have a variety of shops, take aways and pubs within a mile of their house. Then sat indoors with the curtains shut and watched F1 on the telly.
2. Those (like us and our neighbours) who walked to the route, watched the whole event, enjoyed the carnival atmosphere round the village and the fact that the road closures meant we didn't have to play "dodge the nutter doing 60 in a 30 limit through the narrow village roads" in order to get to the fete on the village playing fields.
Have "we" (or at least some of us) always been inclined to moan about such things or is it a relatively recent thing? I suspect the latter, it seems to be an overflow from the whole consumerism thing: "I pay my taxes, I can do what I like, I don't need to think of the community".
People often seem to see themselves as "customers" rather than members of society. And forget that with rights come responsibilities.
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