The Racing Week

By Ian Henderson

It would be so easy to write a doom laden article so I refuse to do that and in this wonderful world will try to highlight the things that we should be pleased about.

On the health front which is far more important than wealth we have never had it so good. Britain is one of the few countries in the world where health care is free and despite the doom merchants we still have one of the best health services. When the health service is dealing with thousands of cases every day one or two hit the headlines but this kind of reporting ignores the other successful outcomes. My wife had an operation for bowel cancer fifteen years ago and is still fit and getting around. The last hundred years have seen improvements in health care that would have been unimaginable only a short while ago.

This wonderful country of ours is one of the most beautiful in the world and most of us don’t appreciate it. There is so much diversity in the landscape from the rugged cliffs of Cornwall to the majesty of Snowdon.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

Getting away from the motorway can be a revelation yet very few do it. The weather here is interesting which is a lot better than South Africa where there is no rain from April to November. As an artist I remember the total boredom of waking up every day to blue skies and no clouds. The unpredictability of the British weather is its strong point. Don’t complain, enjoy it. You won’t get today back again so go out and splash around. Africa is praying for that rain! 
 
The mobile phone makes life a lot easier. Years ago if your car broke down you would have to trudge miles to make a phone call to the RAC or local garage. Now you just wait for them to arrive. If you are a woman this is a lot safer way to travel knowing that you don’t have to leave your car. The mobile phone serves us well in any emergency. Its value far outweighs the small irritations that it causes.

The law allows you to get into debt without suffering very much for it. Not many countries have the relaxed finance laws of Britain. We can fume about the bankers getting the country into debt but at the same time most people were bending their credit cards to destruction. The law of finance allows the paying back to be as painless as possible if you are organised enough to do it. And the laws of bankruptcy allow you to get out scot free. I know that nobody wants to be on the dole at £62 a week but there are other benefits attached in that. Your rent, mortgage and council tax are paid making a far higher total for the freebies. Nobody needs to starve in Britain. As a student I used to boil my eggs in the kettle and there are many short cuts to being well fed. Or having sufficient. So feel pleased that nobody is starving. Even the homeless have helpers on the street. Money is a man made commodity and should be treated as such. It is not worth committing suicide over.

You should feel pleased that you are not a celebrity. Part of that brittle world that can fall apart at any time and usually leaves you penniless and friendless. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the hill but you will be far happier getting on with your humble life.

You should say thank you for your car. They are so much more reliable and comfortable than they used to be. My first car had a starting handle and nearly broke your wrist every time I started it. There was no heater and my latest car has air conditioning. Unheard of only a few years ago and the modern car is not allowed to choke us all to death with its fumes.

Central heating is a boon but I think that many minor diseases are caused by too much of it. You do need to open a window now and then. I remember the

Without your health you have nothing

days when the family sat around a coal fire and then went into a freezing bedroom. My bedroom was so cold as a child that I could scratch the frost from the window on the inside.

Your fridge saves you a lot of money on wasted food. We don’t think about things this simple but only a few years ago the best you could do was a meat safe outside the back door and washing machines were unheard of. Women had to slave over a tub and mangle every Monday morning.

Say thank you for our history and heritage. The West End theatres must be the best in the world and opera and ballet are accessible to all. I am proud of Britain’s history. We achieved so much worldwide and we have a lot to be proud of when we look at a Commonwealth that on the most part is looking after its own affairs so well. The legacy from thousands of Brits who gave their all for the countries that they were living in. There were one or two carpetbaggers but I knew District Commissioners in Kenya who were training the locals in good husbandry and who would have stood up for their constituents.

Britain produces more inventors than any other nation or did. That position is probably taken up in the East now but in the past we had amazing men who dominated the world from Watt to Davey, from Stephenson to Trevithick and many others. That inventive spirit is still with us and will always be there.

We have a strong artistic flair and that is still there beneath the ravings of Emin and others. The London Art scene is still as strong as ever and many of the exhibitions contain work that the ordinary public would still describe as art.

No decade could equal the last one for sheer nastiness. So with the above thoughts I greet the new decade full of confidence that Britain is as good a place to live as any. All you need to do is ignore the horrible headlines and count your blessings.

The nasty complaining old git will return next week. 

Ian Henderson