How to keep laughing
A memory from lockdown
Hello lovely people. Instead of a Friday Thought tomorrow, you’re receiving a short essay that formed part of a series I wrote four years ago, when we were deep in lockdown hell. Actually, I think at this time (October 2020) we were doing the Hokey Cokey lockdown dance, of being in and out of enforced isolation, due to the - utterly useless and pointless - tier system.
It’s funny how all encompassing that was back then, and yet I’d forgotten all about it until I heard this podcast featuring an interview with Boris Johnson. Before you recoil in horror, I’ll briefly explain why I listened to this, because my own husband was AGOG (with disgust) when I told him about it. Here is where I embarrassingly confess to being grimly fascinated by Boris Johnson. It’s one of my many vices. Some people pick their nose or their feet. I occasionally imbibe on Boris Johnson content, forever seeking an answer to the question: why the flip did people vote for this guy?
Anyway, I’m so sorry. I’m well aware of how disappointing I am. Can we just regard it as a sacrificial act of ministry? I took one for the team on this one guys. I’ve listened to him, so now you don’t have to. Now we don’t need to read his book either, and if it’s anything like the podcast interview - basically, an hour and a half of him making pointlessly posh, guffawing sounds interspersed with “LOOK, you see” and “WELL, the thing is,” then we’re not missing much. Zero insight. Read my book instead, which is available from today, WHOOP! WHOOP!
One of the things early readers have picked up on from the book, and something I’ve been asked about in radio and podcast interviews, is the humour which is found in it. If you know my writing at all, you’ll know I love to find the funny in just about anything, and so I was reminded of this piece from my lockdown diary. It seems like a million years ago! I hope you enjoy it.
(Paywall incoming. If you’re not a paid subscriber, they’ll be another free essay coming soon! Thanks for subscribing.)