LYING on the sofa hungover, watching repeats of old sitcoms or childrens’ TV? You’re actually a philosopher like Socrates. Professor Joseph Turner explains why:
‘Where it all comes from is a mystery, it’s like the changing of the seasons and the tides of the sea’ – Only Fools and Horses, 1981
Compared to the seasons of the earth and the mighty ocean, man is powerless. We are each of us humbled by forces greater than ourselves whether our planet’s orbit around the sun, the moon’s orbit around us, or the market forces that keep Trotters’ Independent Traders insolvent in Peckham.
‘Can we fix it? Yes, we can’ – Bob the Builder, 1999
When our lives are broken, our phones lost and our trousers fouled after nine pints of Guinness the day before, it’s easy to give up. But Bob doesn’t. He builds a soaring edifice from rubble, using a hammer of willpower, nails of determination, a JCB of resolve and a cement mixer of love.
‘So no-one told you life was going to be this way’ – Friends, 1994
If we had a roadmap of our futures, we’d make different decisions. We might not have a kebab, go on to a club and get kicked out by the doorstaff. Yet life is made vibrant by the thrill of uncertainty. Revel in it. Turn left at the crossroads, or right? Call in sick or don’t call in at all? Watch another episode of Friends or go for a piss?
‘What’s the story in Balamory, wouldn’t you like to know?’ – Balamory, 2002
The human urge to gossip has a powerful hold on our psyches. We feel left out of the loop when something’s going on that we aren’t privy to. We need to accept that, just as we have no idea what happened between leaving the pub and waking up in a strangers’ garden five miles away, we may never truly know.
‘Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got’ – Cheers, 1982
Life can certainly leave you drained. It feels like you’re giving it everything, yet you’re barely standing still on the treadmill of reality. It certainly helps to go where everybody knows your name. Especially if it sells alcohol.
