We were on our way back to France. I had successfully negotiated the metal-detector, was no longer barefoot and was just rethreading my trouser belt when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my suitcase being set to one side. I confirmed that it was mine and was asked to go to a…
The bliss of solitude
One great difference between full time work and retirement has been the amount of time I spend alone. As a doctor and teacher I had a career that involved working closely with people and during my last years at work almost every hour was spent in the company of others. Mostly it was with individuals…
A surreal wedding
That Friday afternoon could have been heavy. My assignation - a church wedding in the heartlands of Surrey. The journey there took less time than expected thanks to an easy platform change and an early connection. I arrived at Dorking to be met by the bridegroom’s mother. There were three other invitees at the station…
The cruel denial of assisted dying
Whatever else, arguments for and against assisted dying must include the notion of cruelty. And, in my view to refuse the request for advice on, or help in, dying (the legal requirement of doctors at present) when asked for help by patients of sound mind, who are competent to make decisions, who are suffering unbearably…
The do’s and don’ts of unsolicited advice
There were eight of us round the table - granny (now past being involved in serious discussion), my wife and myself, our three sons (aged 29, 34 and 38), a cousin and a family friend (they were aged in their early 30s). Towards the end of the starter (on offer were smoked salmon, liver pate,…
A bit of bah humbug does you good
The case for being unsociable: Joe Collier's antidote to the party season. Although many see me as sociable, in reality it is only partly me. In many ways I am much more at home being unsociable, a trait which I believe generally deserves recognition (and respect) as a positive, rather than a negative, attribute. I feel…
Your space or mine?
Your space or mine: a model for relationships? Last weekend I bought an ipod docking station. The shop assistant and I had little in common; unlike me, he was probably in his late teens, he clearly knew all about sound systems (after all he had just advised me on the pros and cons of buying a…
Job done?
During my career I spent years finishing and delivering completed bits of work. And, in retirement this has continued unabated although at a rather different level (last week it was one article, two blogs and some French homework!). Whatever the work, what strikes me as mysterious is how I (or anyone else) seem to be…
Hello piglet, I’m on a train
Verbal molestation: the light and dark sides of broadcast conversation There can be little more invasive than unwanted noise. Aeroplanes, trains, even music (pressed to the loudspeaker at a rock concert, the overloud iPod) can bombard and make life unpleasant, and even painful. Well, that is classic noise pollution for which there are laws; but what about…
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