You probably recognise this as one of the celebrated catch phrases that emerged from that wonderful TV series Fawlty Towers. (Basil was anxious not to embarrass a family of German guests.) I couldn’t help but think of that this evening.
One of my sons arranged a Zoom session with various family members, with the nominal excuse that we would be celebrating V-E Day.* There are two members of the family who do have at least fragmentary memories of the Second World War. Approaching the occasion I was rather uneasy about how it would go. It didn’t seem likely that those of us with actual memories of that time would hog the conversation, and it seemed even less likely that we would descend into sentimental patriotism. As it turned out nobody mentioned at all the nominal reason for getting together.
That was just fine by me, as I have been feeling very ambivalent about the national celebration. It does occur to me to ask, however, whether it is an event that registers at all with the great majority of the population. I am approaching my 78th. birthday, and I do wonder what it can mean to most of the population. Wearing my cynical sociological hat I can’t help asking whether there isn’t a degree of political manipulation behind the degree to which the anniversary has been promoted by the government. Patience is wearing thin in relation to the regime of isolation, and perhaps the government have arrived at the conclusion that we need a good dose of sentimental patriotism (“all pulling together” and so on) in order to persuade us to knuckle down and subject ourselves to self-discipline for a little longer.
I did hear earlier today about a group of elderly folk in the village who are contriving to have some kind of celebration of V-E Day, but I am curious as to whether, beneath the official promotion of the event, it actually has much purchase on the imagination of most people.
And now for something completely different. I did manage to sit in the garden this morning for an hour, drawing. Having immersed myself in the task for some time I realised that I had made a classic beginner’s error. I had started at the bottom, and belatedly realised that I had not left enough room for the entire object! Ouch! Drawing a pot full of cacti I had become obsessed by the need to get the succession of elipses required in order to draw the pot, and had forgotten to leave enough room for the whole plant. Ah, well!
*This is getting to be a habit under “lockdown” conditions. It was the second Zoom get-together we’ve had today.