Before we became parents, my husband and I used to enjoy slipping across European borders for a weekend break. Since our son came along, though, the frequency of these getaways has noticeably shrunk. So it was great to get back on a plane – the three of us, this time – for a weekend trip to Paris. He is just 15 months old, but he was very well behaved in the plane, in the hotel, in the restaurant, and at the museum. By the time we got home on Sunday, he was so overwhelmed by all the new experiences that he fell to sleep immediately, leaving us to enjoy an evening en tête-à-tête.
Tag Archiv: regret
How Much is Enough?
27. March 2012
Yesterday I recounted the sorry tale of Hazel Loveday, the bus driver who quit a lottery syndicate six months before twelve of her fellow drivers cracked a £38 million jackpot. The story apparently intrigued me as much as it did a sample of Daily Mail Online readers. In a survey, the newspaper posed the begging question: should winners share a little of their good fortune with the regretful single-mother? Just 34 percent of the respondents believed they should. The overwhelming majority considered that she had no right to appeal to their sense of generosity.
Bus Driver Alights at the Wrong Stop
26. March 2012
A few days ago twelve bus drivers from the English county of Northamptonshire had a very good reason to celebrate, having won the multi-country lottery "Euro Millions" and claiming more than £38 million (€45 million). The story was all the more newsworthy because it turned out that a fellow driver in the syndicate had dropped out six months earlier because, as a single mother, she could no longer afford the weekly two-pound (€2.40) bet.
Physically Lost, Mentally Found
17. January 2012
A few days ago a junkie broke into my friend’s car while I was talking to her in front of the school gates. We were actually standing just 150 metres away from her car, but it was ten minutes after the police descended on the busy street that we realised they were actually converging around her car. The policewoman asked her what had been stolen. As she peered through her brutally smashed car window, she mentioned her new brand-name handbag and the D&G sunglasses that her sister had gifted her for Christmas. I noticed a expectant look in the policewoman’s eyes as she asked my friend whether these were really the only things of value that were lost.
Destination? Dissonance
7. October 2010
‘Due to current traffic conditions your route has been changed.’ These words, spoken in dulcet tones and with casual indifference by the in-car GPS system, are surely the scourge of motorists the world over. So it was once again this weekend The threat of a traffic jam on the route ahead caused me (and dozens of other vehicles armed with shark fin-shaped antenna) to leave the highway in the middle of nowhere.
David’s Dream (Regrettably) Fled to Ed
28. September 2010
Three athletes step up to the podium to receive their medals. Which is the happiest and which is the least happy? Intuitively, one might imagine that happiness would decline with the order of the prize, but it doesn’t.