Laughing at Latin

Afternoon all. Yesterday my work colleague told me some good news. His contract has been extended for another six months. This is good for two reasons. Firstly, I never like to see a good man unemployed and secondly, he proved a point I’ve been preaching to people for years. In life you make your own luck.

After being introduced to my (boss’ boss)² [you’ve gotta love the corporate hierarchy] my colleague briefly explained to him what work he was doing and now the chief guvna’ has decided that he is indispensable. If he had just shaken his hand and kept quiet, or been sick that day; he’d be on the scrap heap next month. It proves that if you work hard, meet people and keep your wits about you, you’ll be entering the workplace ‘flop’ with Ace-King rather than Jack-sh*t. 

Whatever your hopes, dreams, ambitions or national insurance number, the ability to get along with a wide spectrum of people and to have a sense of humour are paramount in today’s society. With this phrase ‘social mobility’ being thrown about like some journalistic beanbag, how easy is it to make your own way along the yellow brick road to red shoes and stardom?

The current ‘meritocracy’ that we have today (the idea that life’s rewards are awarded through merit) is partially true but notably not so in major British institutions. Legal, the Church of England, and most notoriously contemporary politics are becomings ‘boys-clubs’ which don’t seem to be accessible enough to inspire a new generation of hopefuls to ‘get on board’. Political heavyweight Andrew Neil writes: “Half the cabinet went to fee-paying schools - versus only 7% of the country - as did a third of all MPs....Top Labour politicians are less posh than the Tories or the Lib Dems but they are increasingly middle-class, Oxbridge-educated and have done nothing but politics.”

The problem isn’t that they’re bad politicians per se, they’ve all worked hard, are experienced and have earned enough public respect. The problem is that for all their merits and first-rate education - none of them have the sense of humour that’s required in any workplace or have the so called ‘common touch’ to be able to relate to anyone who hasn’t read Latin or subscribes to the FT. 

I didn’t mean for this to come out as some anti-establishment rant; I’m thankful that I live in Gloucestershire and not Grozny. It’s just frustrating to see people in the public eye without the ability to take the p*ss out of themselves and not being able to enjoy simple pleasures. (I somehow can’t imagine Clegg and Cameron playing Jenga whilst watching Friends on e4 and drinking cider out of a box...but if they did, BBC Parliament would be infinitely more watchable!)

So there we have it everyone. Some simple advice: Go out, chat to people, do things, laugh lots, live freely, and for Pete’s sake, Carpe Diem.