Heat wave??

Allegedly we are experiencing a heat wave. Admittedly we could use some rain but where I sit now the temperature is a pleasant 24° ane outside it is warm but not overwhelmingly so. We love to complain don't we, and people are moaning that it is too hot to do anything; I confess that I wouldn't like to be working on the roads or out in the fields at the moment, especially as health and safety requires the wearing of all sorts of silly clothing, but can we not just enjoy the nice weather while it is here? Next week it could be pouring with rain and then people will be complaining about that, and people who have bought houses on flood plains will be bewildered because their Nintendo's are floating over the submerged carpets and wondering why the insurance doesn't pay up.

We are a nation of moaners and complainers and I am sure that we didn't learn all of that from the Americans. They do it very well and anyone who has ever served Americans in a bar or a restaurant will know very well not to give them anything to complain about. Having served my first American his ordered Martini, I had it thrust back at me with the words -"If I'd wanted a vermouth, I'd have asked for a vermouth. Now give me a ....king Martini." It was a swift lesson in understanding that American sometimes needs translating.

I like to moan and complain. i do it here most days, but am not one to do so to other people. I can tolerate fairly adverse conditions without commenting and very rarely tell anyone if I feel ill or in pain. I tend to suffer in silence and some may see that as a failing, and yes it probably is. I work on the principle that a problem shared is a problem doubled, and why should i inflict my misery on another.

My mother is chronically ill as I have already written. She says that she is not one to complain, and yet she is adept at manipulating those around her buy subtler methods. Emotional blackmail is an insidious alternative to complaining and very effective in some cases. She gets her own way much of the time and always has done, and so I visit rarely. When I phone her, i have stopped asking how she is because i know that she will tell me, and describe how her condition is made worse by the heat or the wet or the wind or the cold. She never mentions that it is made so much worse by the smoking and so we talk about the weather and other mundane issues.

So for the time being I am going to enjoy being hot. The feel of the sun on my skin is soothing and building the Vitamin D levels. The world looks wonderful and the beaches are full, what on earth is there to complain about?