The Profound and The Foolish

At least, I assume it's criminals at work. There was another burnt out car in front of the underpass near my place this morning.  There's been a spate of them recently, all up and down the main strip between the suburbs.  Usually wedged into the underpasses intended for pedestrian use. The police had already been in attendance and gone again by the time I got there on my way to work this morning - I had to dodge the traffic to get to my bus stop instead of using the underpass. I do wish people wouldn't do this - it's an unpleasant addition to a suburb, even in winter.  And this isn't winter.  It's summer, and that fire could have spread - it would have spread, if the council hadn't been doing their jobs properly and ensuring that the dry grass was suitably short and not likely to catch fire. I was curious enough to get within sniffing distance of the wreck, but that was well and truly close enough.  Like all burnt-out cars, it reeked.  Burnt met...

One evening, when I was a teenager, my parents came out with the most amazing and unexpected outburst of "big brother is watching" paranoia.  I really hadn't expected it.  They had shown no prior interest in conspiracy theories, or end-of-the-world nonsense. I can't remember what we'd been talking about, if anything.  We were probably watching television - it was before extensions had been completed and the television moved, so Mum and Dad were sitting in the two brown elastic-"sprung" armchairs, whilst my sister and I were sitting in the swivelling high chairs we all sat in when we ate our meals. I do, however, remember that my parents were talking about ATMs, which in those days were still relatively new.  As a young child, the only way to get money from one's bank account was to go into the bank and talk to a bank clerk.  I didn't have a bank card that allowed me to use them at that stage, but I was starting to think it was a good idea. ...