I catch myself saying things in the way that Italians say them.
“I hate”, says F, quite a lot. I have corrected him a few times. I just repeat and add ‘it’ at the end. But I find myself saying it to him, now. It’s easier.
‘We are in three’ – a direct translation from Italian but really should be translated as ‘There are three of us’ – when asking for a table in the restaurant, for example.
At first, it made me smile when I heard English people saying it. Now I say it too!
And, now it is snowing. These are big flakes. Pietro said, the other day, it was ‘weak snow’. I laughed. I love the fact that Italians use words that make sense but are not what we would say. I explained we would say ‘light snow’ but I like the idea of weak snow. Of course, it implies that the opposite is ‘strong snow’, which is even funnier since snow is not really strong!
And, whilst we’re on the subject of the weather, we are not having it anywhere near as bad as the UK. Although it is interesting that most airports in the UK seem to be open – with the exception of Heathrow. Heathrow, being, apparently, the busiest airport in the UK is closed or partially closed. Other airports can stay open except the biggest! Hah!
But, I am quite annoyed by the complaining people. The complaints can be divided into basic groups:
- The government should do something about it!
Why? If you are told not to travel except if it is necessary, then don’t blame the government if you get stuck in traffic. And I question if your journey is really essential? I read in some comments, yesterday, someone saying how they had travelled to see family to give Christmas presents. I’m sorry but this is NOT a necessary journey. By making this journey you are helping the congestion on the road and you are selfish.
- The local councils should use more grit.
Apart from the fact that below about -5° the grit has no real effect, if the councils overspend and therefore raise the council tax to pay for it, are you going to say it’s OK? No, I thought not.
- This should have be planned for.
Why? The UK is not Finland. It does not have a continuous blanket of snow for 5 or 6 months of the year. And planning for it means spending money. The money must come from somewhere. This means that everyone has to pay more OR that other things must be cut. So, you can have your necessary grit and snowploughs if you are prepared to have less teachers in the school or stop paying for cosmetic surgery on the NHS. Will that be remembered when someone doesn’t get taught to the right level or where someone who has been disfigured in an accident can’t have surgery to make it right? No, I didn’t think so.
I don’t like the Daily Mail at all but I’ve started reading it online because it gives me an insight into the mind of moronic, bigoted people. And this article shows exactly what is wrong with people. Some stupid woman leaves a very warm, southern-hemisphere country to fly back to Britain just before Christmas. Lucky her for being in a warm place. She comes wearing flip-flops. She has obviously forgotten that Britain tends to be a little chilly. Or, more probably, she is stupid and has no idea of forward planning.
I then rugby tackled a woman from the airline. ‘Where do I go to ask about my flight to Heathrow?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘But you work for the airline. You’re wearing a badge.
‘I’m just directing people to the self-service check-in.’
Hmm. As she works for the newspaper, perhaps she can tell me where I can go buy a few tonnes of printing paper? No, I thought not. But she works for the paper!
‘How do I do that?’ I was given a piece of paper by another mute employee; this had a phone number on it. (Anyone without a mobile – old ladies, nuns, the weak, the injured – were culled.)
Hmmm. Old ladies, nuns, the weak and the injured probably HAVE mobile phones. If they don’t then there are things called ‘pay phones’. You go, you pay money and you dial. This reminds me of the time at the Paris Airshow when someone came up and asked where the entrance was (there were a LOT of entrances) because she was meeting a friend. A friend who didn’t have a mobile phone! In this day and age? And I question why you would travel in these days WITHOUT a mobile phone.
Eventually, at 9.35pm on Sunday, I was put on a flight to Birmingham. I did not want to go to Birmingham.
If it had been me who was serving you you would not have been going to Birmingham. You would have been staying in the airport at Schiphol. Excuse me, but if you didn’t want to go to Birmingham, why did you go? No one was forcing you onto the plane, were they? Oh yes, that’s right, it was better than staying in the airport and there was a chance you could get to where you wanted. Now, if you had been on a plane already in the air that changed it’s flight plan then you would have a better reason to write those words.
I don’t really care about the case, but I do mind that I was stripped of my humanity, and tipped into a world where nothing matters but petty rules, and spectacular indifference.
Ummm. Excuse me. You were NOT stripped of your humanity. And if you don’t want to be in that world then don’t travel by air. You were stupid enough to travel from Bolivia to the UK at the end of December wearing only flip-flops. You are stupid and ignorant and deserve everything you get!
Oh, yes, and you write for the Daily Mail. Still, I suppose stupidity and ignorance are a job requirement for that paper so you must feel right at home!