I found a shower at work. I could weep with happiness.
It's in the cellar and It's almost imposible to get to, because it gets used as storage space, but the security guard, Stan (when you're on first name terms with security you know you've arrived) who showed me the room promised to do some shifting around.
For those wondering why this is good, it means I can cycle to work whenever I choose to, and not have to sit at my desk smelling of sweat. This makes a big difference to my physical wellbeing, which in turn puts me in a much better mood.
While we're on mood, my missus told me this morning that there are more and more things that irritate me as I get older. Effectively this means I'm a grumpy old man. I got to thinking about that. I don't think my personality has changed per se, but the list of things I will moan about is growing. This is to be human. We identify things that irritate us, and without the youthful confidence that anything can be fixed, we're left with talking about it to whoever will listen. Also, over a span of years, trends become visible. For instance the trend towards a "Compensation culture", which I see as a minifestation of the naiive desire to find someone to blame when a bad thing happens. A person who's only had a few years of adult life cannot possibly be aware of the trend, so assumes that it's always been that way. It must be normal, and so on it goes. The depressing thing is that there will never be a trend in the other direction while there's money to be made. The inevitable effect is an erosion of morals. "I fell over and therefore I deserve money" is a statement which would have caused laughter ten years ago, but now it describes a real attitude. Scary.
I'd welcome some discussion on the subject. I think it's important to discuss these things, because if we don't, our attitudes become more and more radical. Being made aware of other people's points of view is the essence of society, normalisation being the desirable outcome. That's not to say that everyone needs to think the same things, but an awareness of other realities surely helps us live harmoniously. I say this on the day when thousands of people in Cumbria are coming to terms with yesterday's gun rampage, wondering what went so badly wrong in that man's life, and just maybe looking for someone to blame...
It's in the cellar and It's almost imposible to get to, because it gets used as storage space, but the security guard, Stan (when you're on first name terms with security you know you've arrived) who showed me the room promised to do some shifting around.
For those wondering why this is good, it means I can cycle to work whenever I choose to, and not have to sit at my desk smelling of sweat. This makes a big difference to my physical wellbeing, which in turn puts me in a much better mood.
While we're on mood, my missus told me this morning that there are more and more things that irritate me as I get older. Effectively this means I'm a grumpy old man. I got to thinking about that. I don't think my personality has changed per se, but the list of things I will moan about is growing. This is to be human. We identify things that irritate us, and without the youthful confidence that anything can be fixed, we're left with talking about it to whoever will listen. Also, over a span of years, trends become visible. For instance the trend towards a "Compensation culture", which I see as a minifestation of the naiive desire to find someone to blame when a bad thing happens. A person who's only had a few years of adult life cannot possibly be aware of the trend, so assumes that it's always been that way. It must be normal, and so on it goes. The depressing thing is that there will never be a trend in the other direction while there's money to be made. The inevitable effect is an erosion of morals. "I fell over and therefore I deserve money" is a statement which would have caused laughter ten years ago, but now it describes a real attitude. Scary.
I'd welcome some discussion on the subject. I think it's important to discuss these things, because if we don't, our attitudes become more and more radical. Being made aware of other people's points of view is the essence of society, normalisation being the desirable outcome. That's not to say that everyone needs to think the same things, but an awareness of other realities surely helps us live harmoniously. I say this on the day when thousands of people in Cumbria are coming to terms with yesterday's gun rampage, wondering what went so badly wrong in that man's life, and just maybe looking for someone to blame...
so how long can society last? If we are on a down-hill path (how many children took guns to school when you were young) - then when will we hit the bottom?
ReplyDeleteFor that matter who was it that decided that the only way we can be happy is continual economic growth. If we keep expanding the economy we keep increasing our rate of consumption.
Can we only deal with our current reality if we believe we will have more (ie be happier) in the future? No wonder we get grumpy when we get old(er) and realise it's never going to happen.
Peter, thanks for posting. Tinking about it, I don't remember hearing of kids with guns at school until the late 90's. Horrible thing. Guns in general give me the heeby geebies.
ReplyDeleteI agree we need a new measuring stick for happiness. It's not how big your telly is, it's how low your blood pressure is, or how little your carbon footprint or something. Although the pace of technology would slow somewhat. Which would leave us engineers in a shrinking market, which would raise our blood pressures etc etc.
This is all off topic as far as my post goes - I was on about the blame game, one of the things that makes me very grumpy. I have less problems with the way society is going with regard to economic growth. I certainly would question (politely) the suggestion that economic growth equals higher consumption - or at least I'd suggest we look for ways to grow that are renewable. Technology is the key to that, and good science.
About the guns-in-school thing, maybe we shouldn't see that as a permanent facet of society. These trends can be reversed with some creative thinking, so the idea that our society ratchets downward never to return is wrong. Same with good things, like the moon landings and the release of Mandela (to pick two examples out of the hat) - things looked brighter for a while and then there's the perception that we'll never see another happy day. In fact I think society doesn't go up or down, just our breadth of experience grows. So there's no rock bottom, just more surprises.