Apologies tout le monde: in my true 'Vaalty-Vaalty-Vaalty' bumbling style (as one friend recently described me, rather aptly many would say), I neglected to explain just why I entitled my first post 'Tubby Isaacs'. The ostensible reason is simply that it was the first thing which came into my head.
Today I went to Clacton with my parents: they love the fresh air, and after a hard week at school, I had few qualms with such a suggestion: except that I hate the place. Similar to the town in which my school is situated (try and guess its name - I go to Southend High School for Boys), it is simply horrific. At this point, you are probably considering posting some damming comment, berating me for my shallow snobbery. To an extent, you would be justified in such an opinion: I hate the place because a) it is so very tacky; b) its image; c) I can barely understand the lingo of the locals...the list is endless.
I now ask myself while typing: why the HELL am I banging on about dated seaside resorts? Have I nothing better to do, like read a book, or study for looming exams in June? Of course I have plenty of more worthwhile things to crack on with. Or do I? To return to the topic of this post, are the dated facades and the accent of local people in Clacton really the source of my hatred of such a place? No.
If you share any small amount of ambition I have in life, when you leave your cosy, 3, 4 or even 5 bedroomed pad in middle-class suburbia, look at other people's faces: don't just glance at them, give them a really hard stare. Look at the 19 year old mum buying nappies at Asda; stare at the 40-something couple who walk down the highstreet; catch the eyeline of an elderly lady as she picks up her pension in the local post office. Now go to Clacton, or any place like it for that matter, and those same facial expressions are intensified.
Tubby Isaacs is, I presume, the owner of a small, modest van selling seafood I saw today in Clacton. He's probably saved up a lot of money, and put an incredible amount of energy into setting up that van. When I saw it, I happened to thinking about the essay I need to do this weekend about Britain's development of democracy.
That with a view to getting a good mark for my History homework.
That with the hope to obtain an 'A' grade in History A-Level.
That with the aim of going to St Catharine's College, Cambridge this autumn.
That with the aspiration of studying for a good degree.
That with the dream of escaping from middle-class mediocrity.
Most of all, that with the I'll-be-dammed-if-I-don't certainty of returning - maybe not soon, but some day - to come back and put a sparkle into Tubby's face once more.
We all get so obssessed with 'excellence', 'attainment' and 'success' these days. I'm one of the worst culprits to pursue all of the above. But just before you return to your daily rat race once more, I ask you to consider this: who did I help today? I fear that the answer is all too predictable for so many of us.
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6 comments:
What a fantasticly perceptive opening post Nick. You make a valuable point and one that I hope will be considered by all who read this. As for your ambition and determination for success, that is not something to be ashamed by. You have been gifted with brains and a vast array of skills, and you have consciously taken the choice to use those to their fullest extent. Good on you! What is important, like you say, is that other people are always the first to benefit, and that we ourselves come second.
Very perceptive. But I'm not sure that I entirely agree. I may well put up my response in a proper post. But is there not a moral imperative to use our ability? Why remain in middle-class mediocrity if one can do higher things?
Incidentally, when I say higher, I don't mean better, necessarily. I have great respect for Tubby Isaac's way of life; but I couldn't live like that.
L.C.
But do we disagree Phil? The point I try to convey is simply that we should maximise our abilities to the fullest, in order that we may be able to help others to do something similar, later on.
Quite probably, we are in accordance. You are intelligent enough to agree with me, certainly. :P
"Je suis d'accord"
I find it interesting that you should ask us to consider who we have helped today. I agree that the answer is unfortunately all too predictable for many of us, but I fear also that the question most of us ask is not that of "who have we helped", but "why have we helped?"
It is perhaps this element of uncertainty as to what reason their is for us to try to help others that results in the all too predictable answer to your closing question.
Food for thought indeed. Even if we can't actually help someone per se, we can in some fashion improve the world around us. A positive attitude and a kind word can in many ways be as much a help as lifting bags or opening doors.
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