Events, dear boy, events

Harold MacMillan’s observation nicely caught my day yesterday.

I was returning from an appointment yesterday by car and a motorist had abandoned his car blocking the roadway in the opposite direction. Behind the empty car was a dustcart blocking my entrance gates and behind that vehicle a queue of disgruntled drivers who were now overtaking the dust cart on my side of the road in my direction. The lead dustbinman rudely directed me to the end of the queue some 400 yards away: this was unattractive as I had packages to carry – if not impossible as my side of the road was now blocked. The impasse was resolved by the totally unapologetic driver who blocked the motorists returning to his car in his own good time.

In the meantime I had found a space to park my car.

A neighbour who was also involved commented to me how rude the dustbinman was. “They better not ask me for something at Xmas” I replied.

We are put under quite onerous responsibilities in the disposal of rubbish. It would be nice if dustbinmen could observe the courtesies of life.

On the same day I was informed that my new reading glasses, whose wing arm broke away without explanation in my hands from the main frame, would cost £225 to repair as I was held responsible by the manufacturer and my Venetian blinds refused to engage with the overhead board when raised upwards.

It’s a fact of life that out of the blue events like this can transform an organised calm day into a totally stressful one.