MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

The beach at Guilderton, Western Australia, February 2013 (photo LP ) I have spent a few days recently at my beachhouse studying my French lessons, but more specifically the “wonderful world” of French pronouns in all their various guises. Pronouns, both in English and French are fraught with difficulty and having an afternoon cooking yesterday, while simultaneously watching a cable cooking channel, I was annoyed by the number of presenters who used " we" when speaking to their television audience: "Now we take our eggs, break them into our bowl..."  We, the audience, are not there with the presenter; they are joined by a camera operator, lighting operator and others to assist in their presentation, none of whom are helping with the actual cooking process. By the time "We are now plating our meal..." was announced, I was so removed from the whole experience that irrespective of how delightful the menu appeared, I was distracted and uninter...

Mother and son... The Australian newspaper this morning ran a front page article about the Generation Y who are still residing at home.  It was complemented by an excellent article written by the demographer, Bernard Salt. We parents of KIPPERS (Kids in Parent’s Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings) are allowing this new phenomenon which, according to Salt ,“is one of the most powerful social forces to have shaped modern Australian households…” He is suggesting that it is not only the cost of housing which is the driving force, but the fact that many of us do not mind our children’s partners “staying over”.  In the late 1970’s when I left school, my friends and I also left home…to University college or to shared flats with friends, or overseas for a gap year which was spent well away from the prying eyes of our parents. It was a right of passage to get our driver’s licence at 17 and move out at 18 when we could legally vote…and drink alcohol in public p...