Maree’s musings

ONE THING and ANOTHER

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s sometimes difficult to get our heads around important stuff, so in order to help us make sense of our increasingly confusing world, we often make comparisons. Being ‘confined to barracks’ recently, I had time on my hands and dug some out. Thanks, Covid! With living costs escalating, for example, Those in Charge use items we can relate to. The price of a 1Kg block of cheese is the traditional benchmark, but for those more strapped for cash, it’s a lettuce or the humble cabbage, my celery maybe. News of galloping inflation goes down like a lead balloon: a phrase poached from a 1924 Mom’n’Pop comic strip, where Pop’s stock investment was going up as fast as one. The saying took off, though.

My Internet scrolling revealed a whole raft of new expressions. ‘Unprecedented’ [we’re all over this on both counts] had a good innings; now nothing surprises and we learned to suck it up and catch those curveballs. We encouraged folks to escape from rabbitholes and stop hiding under rocks. More geography featured with mountains made from molehills. Most of us have never met a mole, although we do have bats here. Their dubious reputation provides us with ‘bats in the belfry’ or just plain bats. And of course, batshit.

Shit used to be a swear word resulting in a soap mouthwash … now, not so much. Shitloads of expressions help us express ourselves. I’m not talking crap here; my collection includes dogshit, bullshit, horse shit, apeshit, ratshit, no shit! And pushing shit uphill. Naturally most of those have negative connotations, but as one says, shit happens. 

As I write, the eye-watering rain persists – defined by this morning’s radio as a ‘Whack-A-Mole’  – popping up everywhere. It’s a bit OTT to be honest. Fortunately we have a reputation for thick skin [weirdly sometimes measured on one’s teeth]. So we’ll soldier on and not throw in the towel, which is soaking anyway. 

At times like these, authorities often establish a think tank. Tanks are huge and solid and Get Things Done, even mammoth tasks. Despite us never having seen one in the flesh, as it were, an apt description. Fingers are crossed their solution will not be the ‘elephant in the room’. Or worse still, a dinosaur; doomed to extinction.

And finally, a favourite of mine: the question ‘How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?’ This certainly requires fancy footwork if you feel like dancing in these dismal times, by the way. I must confess I had to look it up. From several suggested origins the most apt IMHO is the link to the fall of Constantinople. All the while that the Turks were besieging the city, local scholars continued discussing other matters, seemingly oblivious to the impending disaster. Simply put … wasting time when urgent stuff needs attention. Here’s hoping today’s authorities learn from this, stop pussyfooting around and keep their arses in gear.

With one thing and another, these are perilous times. But as long as we keep our chins up and our heads above water [sorry!!], we’ll be back in the sunshine soon.