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brianmate

X Marks The Spot

Hi Everyone



Back in the days when nearly everyone had a Sunday newspaper delivered through their door, one newspaper had a Spot the Ball competition where each week a photograph of a football match was shown but with the ball removed. What you had to do was guess where the ball was to win a substantial money prize by indicating with three crosses on the photograph where the ball might be. I would favour closing my eyes and stabbing the photo three times with a pin to then mark my crosses with a pencil, If one of your crosses was in the exact centre of the ball you would win the big prize. This was about the same odds of winning the lottery today as you had hardly any chance of finding the ball with any of your crosses. In two weeks time, crosses will be back in the news as we mark with an X the candidate we wish to vote for in the election. Now I have decided this time that I am not going to vote for a particular party but vote for the candidate who I think will best represent the interests of the people in our area. There are seven candidates to choose from, four men and three women and, even better they are nearly all local people who have lived and worked in the area for many years. That all sounded like a great idea until I realised that only two of them had any chance of representing me in Parliament, one man and one woman. So that is it, when I go to the polling booth to cast my vote, I will be taking my pin, closing my eyes and hoping that my cross finds the right person but, in any event, I am happy in the knowledge that my one vote will not make a scrap of difference anyway.



I read this week that a modern day Notradarmus is predicting the imminent start of WW3 due to heightened tensions across the world. It seems to me that anyone of us can make, wild, frightening or just plain silly predictions with the only ones remembered being the ones that come true. Back in the 1950s, I went with my friend to some wonderful Sunday night concerts in the city centre. Afterwards, making sure that we did not miss the last bus home, we would go to listen to various orators on their boxes warning us of disasters and diseases and of course the possibility of a third world war. Now although seventy years have passed since that dire warning, it is possible that someone in the future just might get it right. Back in the 1950s however one man in the audience had the answer when he said "That's done it, I am going down the Pit" meaning one of the many coal mines in our area where he thought he would be safe. Back at the Fruit, Vegetable ......... shop, we had a cellar to hide in but with the prospect of a week or more in a cellar with the Senior Partner, I would almost certainly choose the Pit. Now all the mines have closed and there are not many cellars around so let's hope that none of the mad people in this world read this Rubbish.


The month of June marks the birth dates of both Partners. The Senior Partner would have been 119 and the Junior Partner 124. With the advances in medical science and with a bit of help from AI, at some time in the future, their descendants might still be around but, for me, the prospect of working until you are ninety does not appeal much. Now that is a bold prediction.


Just a Thought:


If you are not part of the solution, then you're probably aiming to be the next Prime Minister.


Never make predictions, especially about the future.


Brian

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