The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.
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8:37pm on Monday, 5th November, 2018:
Anecdote
We went to see Colchester's firework display this evening (10,000 people each paying £9.50 to watch £14,000 worth of fireworks go up). Because we didn't want to mess about making something to eat, I went to the local chippy for cod and chips twice and a large chips (for me).
The bill came to £15.50. I had a £20 note, so asked the lass behind the till if she wanted the 50p.
She didn't know what I meant. I had to explain to her what "the 50p" was.
OK, so she might be new (I hadn't seen her before), but for her not to know what I was asking meant that she herself had never been asked if she had the 50p or whatever.
I expect that this is a result of contactless payment systems. A hundred years from now, no-one will use that turn of phrase any more. That's fair enough — it's not something I'm lamenting.
I do wonder, though, what behaviours and manners of the past that used to be prevalent have now been lost to us. There is a sadness in the loss of culture. We get glimpses of some of it through literature (although this doesn't exactly pay much attention to the common people), but really I have no idea what my ancestors in the 1800s lived like, let alone those in the 1700s or 1600s.
The present is the past of tomorrow. Much of what we do and why we do it will be lost to our descendants, even though it's recorded from all angles. _Sigh_.
The fireworks were pretty good, though, being reasonably timed to the music for a change.
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Copyright © 2018 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).