Interestingly Mundane

Blimey, yer a strange bunch.

In fact I’m also a little insulted. I spend hours crafting blog posts, considering the weighty issues of the day, or trying to capture the elusive quality of a moment, carefully choosing my words to be thought-provokingly poetic.

Despite all that, what are the topics that really get you going? Whether tea is rubbish and how to hang up washing to dry! I’ve not had this many comments since we discussed toenails a few years back (July 2004? blimey), well apart from that one time I ASKED for comments.

The lesson here is that the mundane artefacts of modern life are something we all feel passionately about, and such things as which beverage you drink take on whole new realms of importance. We revel in the detail and, as such things are commonplace, everyone is an expert.

I’ve heard this kind of thing, in professional terms, described as the curse of knowledge. It’s an interesting turn of phrase and seems appropriate here. We all know what we know about how we, to continue the example, make a cup of tea. We may acknowledge that other methods produce similar results but deep down we know that the way WE make tea is the BEST way. With that basic understanding in place it becomes very difficult to see things from any other point of view (professionally this is why people get annoyed when you don’t know what they know, because they no longer remember having had to learn it).

But enough of that. This fascination with the every day items and tasks of modern life continues to be a good touching point, something we all do and know, so I guess it’s no wonder that discussions about how to hang up washing to dry are so… entertaining? I was going to say interesting but they aren’t really, are they, as anyone who has read the comments on the previous post going to suddenly try a new way to hang their clothes up to dry? No, I didn’t think so…

We do love a bit of introspection don’t we. And by we I mean all of us, the people of planet earth. Some enjoy it more than others, I agree, but everyone is fascinated by themselves on some level.

Even if that level is, quite literally, navel gazing.

Anyway, it’s this kind of thing that gives blogging a bad name so I think it’s time to buck up the ideas!

Well, maybe … you see … the thing is … I do have one more question …

If you are making a peanut butter and jam sandwich (PBJ to my American readers) do you also use butter (as in, Lurpak)?

Comments

  1. Oh dear. My first scan of your second paragraph read "thought-provokingly pathetic".

    I must learn to read more slowly and thoroughly.

  2. No butter in PBJ for me, I guess because there’s already butter in peanut butter (at least in the name).

    However, I might try it and discover that adding butter turns a very good sandwich a sublime experience, but I’m usually very open to suggestions and new (improved) ways of doing stuff.

    Now I’ll go and read all the comments on how to hang clothes to dry, I might even add my own way, as I do feel very strongly about it (there have been rows at home about it, yes, that’s sad).

  3. No doubt we will be getting a leaflet from the Government to advise on this very issue at any moment!

  4. I share your pain.

    A 3-word ‘post’ last Friday – 41 comments.
    A serious post on Tuesday – 11 comments.
    Another serious post on Wednesday – 9 comments.

    I even left the duplicate comments on this week’s posts…

    The answer to your question – such nasty diabetes and obesity inducing concotions should be banned, not made.

  5. BW – steady on!!! You can’t ban peanut butter!!! I’ll fight you all the way on that one!!!

    (seriously, in moderation, everything is ok.. yes?)

  6. 1. Toast Bread
    2. Butter Toast
    3. Add (un)healthy smothering of Peanut Butter
    4. Throw jam in bin
    5. Eat

    Jobsagoodun.

  7. Pffft – that was the longest comment that I’ve left on anyone’s blog in months, and now you feel INSULTED? There’s no pleasing some people!

  8. I think that simple questions will always get more answers than serious posts.

    With simple questions, people don’t have to think about their replies as much, and most people can find an answer to “How do you hang up clothes”. However, most are stumped when it comes to “What should we do about bad parking/low standards/pay differences between top-level directors and ‘im on the workfloor.” and thus don’t pipe up.

    You’d see similar in an office environment – emails about “Name 20 bands from the 80s” get tons, whereas the ones about “This is what your petrol money is going towards” etc. get ignored/unanswered.

  9. I am an American who grew up eating peanut butter and jelly (jam) sammiches. Putting butter on the bread before creating this sandwich is incorrect. I do know that some people (usually immigrants who were trying to create an authentic American food and got it just a little bit wrong) have put butter on the slice of bread that is destined to be the jelly slice to prevent the bread from getting soggy if the sandwich is to be in a lunch box for a while, but that is the only time it should be done, if at all.

    I think I’ll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my tea.

  10. What just cracks me up are the comments left when a blogger writes a “I’m taking a break for a while” type nothing post, or even worse, “I’ve run out of ideas, and having nothing to write” OR even WORSE, “I’m thinking of giving up blogging”.

    I suspect I’d get my most comments ever on a post that simply read, “Missionary or spoons?”

    Off to do it….

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