Back to work

Well the holiday season is over and it's back to work. So no more Mr Nice Guy, no more travelogues and pretty piccies. The topic of the moment is prizes. Has anyone noticed how many there are. They are everywhere.

"Congratulations sir you are breathing, this qualifies you for our special inhalation prize. Just ring this premium rate number and sit on the line for a couple of hours and we'll tell you which worthless gift you've won."

Or, you open the paper and yet another scratch card falls out. You scratch the panels off and lo and behold you've won one of the Grade 'A' prizes which could include any of the following: a week wallowing in Hippopotamus shit, being the live bait for a Great White Shark fishing trip, 10 chances of contracting AIDS by re-using random needles found in a dump etc etc. All you have to do is text STUPIDMORON to the following number 05417.

I have to ask what is it with this society that we are so obsessesed with the quick win. The easy route to riches and idleness. Are we really so full of envy and sloth that all we can think about is having more money than we can spend in 3 lifetimes so that we can surround ourselves with overpriced crap and eat ourselves into oblivion watching yet another episode of The Simpsons.

Call me old fashioned, 'You old fashioned staid git!' but wouldn't we feel better in ourselves if we were able to say we had made a positive contribution to the society we live in. The idea of voluntary work, helping your neighbour or contributing in some way to the neighbourhood seems to have died out since Scouting's 'Bob a Job' was withdrawn. The WI still exists, but tends towards an increasingly geriatric group of biddies. Christian fellowship has degenerated to having tea with the vicar in the church hall on Sunday.

So look around you. Do something, no matter how slight, for some one else and feel better in yourself, it surely can't be that painful, can it - and who knows where it might lead.