I've had really rather an ordinary life.
I was born in O______, England, to English and Croatian parents. I was born on Bloomsday. I only discovered recently the significance of this fact. My parents had no idea. If I'd been told before, I'd have lived a different way of being.
I spent my first five years in D__________. I think they were unexceptionally happy years. In time, I then moved to C______, where my father took up a new job as a state teacher.
The city was a rather boring place to be; my life was not to be a ball of laughs.
I got great grades at O-level - almost all scored A! A-level wasn't so good; I even scored another O!
W______ University was nothing if not a great place to study film. But 1983 was a bad time to finish university, with the country under the spell of blue handbag economics and its resulting employment statistics.
DAH-DA-TA-DAH ... I moved to Spain - out of love (I soon got married) and also a fair amount of desperation: no jobs were forthcoming in England.
In a time of terrible internecine war, close to my mother's heart and soul, I once foolishly, publicly, stated I'd be prepared to die for her country. This was really dumb, and I suspect it put me - rightly - on some watchlist or another.
(In truth, you can only be prepared to die for your own country, and only then when commanded to.)
The years my children were born were the best years of my life.
Other stuff then happened which I shall not now mention on these pages.
Although he almost manages to achieve his goal.
"Maybe so. Maybe the Independent was right after all when it says we're saying sorry far too much these days. The word has been devalued by forests of press releases issued by large companies in order to cover their tracks. Or, alternatively, by politicians who might not know how to run a country – but certainly excel at creating the impression it’s not their fault.
"But if – at some point – we’re going to need to move on from the recent crises that are still assailing us, how on earth will it be possible when no one trusts the apologies of anyone? Apologising – and meaning it – is surely a fundamental index of how adult-like we can conduct our affairs. Any society which is looking to make its future cohesive can’t ignore the importance of truth and honest discovery.
"Can it?
"So what do you reckon – on a scale of 1 to 10 – is the Apology Index for the country, corporation, small business or family unit you live and work in? If 1 meant completely meaningless and 10 meant completely meaningful, where in your area of operation do you think either you or those around you would fall?
"And is there anything we can actually do about it to remedy any situation you might judge to be currently of despair?"
http://sorrypeople.org/2011/12/08/time-for-an-apology-index/
He loves people, you see - this best friend of mine; loves ideas; loves the planet; loves humanity in general - believes in humanity in general. And he loves you, too; though you really seem to find it so hard to believe. Believe, of course, and anything can happen.
Meta(data)for-Citizenship
