People Tend To Think Of Their Lives

I Am A Regular If Not Exactly Enthusiastic Patron Of My Local Bookshop. I Try To Buy At Least Some Books There Because I Cling To The Belief That It's Important To Maintain Those Businesses Which Put A Human Face On The Exchange Of Money For Goods And Services.

In Survey After Survey, People Report That The Greatest Dangers They Face Are, In This Order: Terrorist Attack, Plane Crashes And Nuclear Accidents. This Despite The Fact That These Three Combined Have Killed Fewer People In The Past Half-century Than Car Accidents Do In Any Given Year.

Sometimes It Occurs To Me That The Job Of A Serious Cultural Critic Mostly Consists In Telling The Generality Of People That Their Opinions - On Films, On Books, On All Manner Of Widgets, Gadgets And Even The Latest Electronic Fidgets - Simply Aren't Up To Scratch.

Just As The Blurring Between Childhood And Adulthood Has Produced The Kidult, So The Stretching Of Middle Into Old Age Has Fostered Another Peculiar Chimera: Septuagenarians With Apoptosis Sporting The Depeche Mode.

Most Of Us Have Had That Experience - At Around Puberty - Of Realising That, Despite Whatever Efforts We Put Into Our Chosen Sports, We Will Become At Best Competent.