'Then he had to smile at himself. He was still a student at heart, a rebel against the powers that be. As a teacher, he was directly under the control of a government body and was often exasperated by ‘committee’ decisions, but he knew there were fair-minded men and women who really did care amongst the committee members, who fought hard to get the right decisions.
He’d heard many stories of individuals who had fought the government ban on free milk for kids, for instance. Of men and women, including teachers, who had all but lost thin: jobs because of their opposition.
No, it was no good becoming over-wrought with authority, for he knew too well that apathy existed on all levels. The gasman who neglected to fix a leaky pipe. The mechanic who failed to tighten a screw. The driver who drove at fifty miles an hour in the fog. The milkman who left one pint instead of two. It was a matter of degree.
Wasn’t that what Original Sin was supposed to be all about?
We’re all to blame. He fell asleep.’
-From ‘The Rats’ by James Herbert
A History teacher once wrote
That I had the makings of a great historian
All I needed now was the right ingredients
Years later
I piddle about with words
With the blinds drawn down
In a Georgian terrace
Not my own
While a virus is here
It’s death toll
Sloping upwards
Phlegmatic
Half-arsed
Laodicean
Oh yes
Trying to be so clever
Erudite
Sagacious
I ask myself
Can Historians cook gourmet meals?
Oh dear
I clearly misunderstood
The advice of my betters
He’d heard many stories of individuals who had fought the government ban on free milk for kids, for instance. Of men and women, including teachers, who had all but lost thin: jobs because of their opposition.
No, it was no good becoming over-wrought with authority, for he knew too well that apathy existed on all levels. The gasman who neglected to fix a leaky pipe. The mechanic who failed to tighten a screw. The driver who drove at fifty miles an hour in the fog. The milkman who left one pint instead of two. It was a matter of degree.
Wasn’t that what Original Sin was supposed to be all about?
We’re all to blame. He fell asleep.’
-From ‘The Rats’ by James Herbert
A History teacher once wrote
That I had the makings of a great historian
All I needed now was the right ingredients
Years later
I piddle about with words
With the blinds drawn down
In a Georgian terrace
Not my own
While a virus is here
It’s death toll
Sloping upwards
Phlegmatic
Half-arsed
Laodicean
Oh yes
Trying to be so clever
Erudite
Sagacious
I ask myself
Can Historians cook gourmet meals?
Oh dear
I clearly misunderstood
The advice of my betters
