The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

PasturesNew

For those interested in social history, family history, etc ... especially diaries/adaptations, I had no idea of this one... which just consumed 2 hours of my time when I unexpectedly stumbled across it ... and watched it.

At the start of WW2 ordinary people were invited to take part in a "Mass Observation" project - which basically meant they wrote diaries and bundled them up/sent them off once a month. They were used to try to understand "the mood of the people" through the War to help Govt policy makers in their choices of what to do/tell people etc.

One woman started and kept it up ... continuing to write until the late 1960s.

It's very good, if you like that sort of thing (based on real life). I enjoyed it.
https://www.itv.com/hub/housewife-49/1a5437a0001

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

For those interested in social history, family history, etc ... especially diaries/adaptations, I had no idea of this one... which just consumed 2 hours of my time when I unexpectedly stumbled across it ... and watched it.

At the start of WW2 ordinary people were invited to take part in a "Mass Observation" project - which basically meant they wrote diaries and bundled them up/sent them off once a month. They were used to try to understand "the mood of the people" through the War to help Govt policy makers in their choices of what to do/tell people etc.

One woman started and kept it up ... continuing to write until the late 1960s.

It's very good, if you like that sort of thing (based on real life). I enjoyed it.
https://www.itv.com/hub/housewife-49/1a5437a0001

They are still doing it.
There was something on the net about it earlier this year, and they were actively looking for men between two ages to give a regular account. They were looking for anyone to write an account of their day on a certain day and send it in. I was going to be in Italy at the time and meant to do it, but wasn't really able to in the end due to travelling.
I think I mentioned it on here.

Anyway, those diaries are still being written.

Victoria Wood did the drama programme about it, called "Housewife 49".

They want all the minutiae of everyday life...... that's what makes social history so interesting.

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

They were looking for anyone to write an account of their day on a certain day and send it in. I was going to be in Italy at the time and meant to do it, but wasn't really able to in the end due to travelling.

Yes, on the day in question I was actually doing something .... and thought about it ... but, like you, failed to produce action after that thought.

Also, once the day had passed, I guess I assumed "that date will be closed as it was something one was supposed to write at the time", so never bothered to go and see if it was still available to be done or not.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Yes, on the day in question I was actually doing something .... and thought about it ... but, like you, failed to produce action after that thought.

Also, once the day had passed, I guess I assumed "that date will be closed as it was something one was supposed to write at the time", so never bothered to go and see if it was still available to be done or not.

It was available for a while, can't remember exactly.

PasturesNew

A new leader for the Rod Hull (emu) Appreciation Society


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6317069/Former-British-racing-driver-102-got-stuck-roof-three-nights-adjusting-aerial.html

Rod Hull: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/298801.stm (1999)

chris_m

PasturesNew wrote: »

A new leader for the Rod Hull (emu) Appreciation Society
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6317069/Former-British-racing-driver-102-got-stuck-roof-three-nights-adjusting-aerial.html

Rod Hull: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/298801.stm (1999)

At least the old chap didn't do his laundry with Ariel and a little bit of Bounce :rotfl:

He must be pretty sprightly for his age, though. Climbing a ladder onto a roof at 102 ain't bad going.

GDB2222

The fact that someone can go missing for 3 days and nobody even knows. This tells us a lot about our society. He sounds like quite a fun and interesting character, and clearly pretty active, but he had presumably just outlived all his friends.

PasturesNew

GDB2222 wrote: »

.... he had presumably just outlived all his friends.

Most possibly - on the other hand it was "just 3 days". If you live alone you're not out every day - where are you going? Especially at his age ... unless you're down the British Legion every day (and that must be a bit tiresome after 40 years or so).

To have the interest and money to go out every day ... isn't going to occur for many.

He might've been very active locally - and had been out the day he went up the ladder.... but usually does his washing the next day, his ironing the day after that ... and then down his allotment.

There's nobody to miss people....

Which isn't always society's fault, it's quite simply that in order to be missed you'd have to endure an endless and gruelling social life where you're such a regular it's noticed that you're not there. A set life... where every day you are known to do precisely X.

In short.... there is nobody to notice that somebody's not been about because nobody's leading a clockwork life, nobody's going out 7 days a week ... and there's nobody left to "notice" as everybody else is "busy"

"Busy" ... or "indoors doing stuff like housework, cleaning, watching telly"... nobody's outside/mingling in the streets/gardens as we don't know who all these neighbours are and you get a new set every 2 months or so.... everybody's on the move... and you never met them anyway because you tried meeting new neighbours 20 years ago and found that ... they all just move after less than one year and nobody's got time for that "making new friends" malarky when, in fact, they're nothing like you and will shortly be moving on...

Now, you might notice them moving in (maybe not) - you'll see lights on occasionally ... and you might notice them moving out as there's a big van. But you've not seen them in between moving in .... and out...

There is little "community", except for those with kids who know the mums from the schools and sports days and occasionally passing/seeing each others' faces when their kids talk and they're in the shops with them and they'll nod a nod of "you're that kid's mother; my kid seems to know your kid - here's the statutory nod" ... just before both parties get into their cars and drive off to "activities" at opposite ends of the town.

There's little "community" in reality. Just hoardes of strangers living short term in places and moving on... moving around .... and mostly staying inside their ticky tacky little boxes, behind their (now compulsory) 6' high fences in their 12'x20' outside space (that's too small/shaded to ever actually enjoy).

hjd

Got back home after a trip to the USA. Drove round seeing fall foliage then 3 days in Boston. Beautiful scenery.
Some of the hotels were "interesting" - one had a notice above the conveyor belt toaster to say please do not put butter/jelly/peanut butter on the bread before putting it in the toaster....
Boston was fine until I got a phone call from my brother to say my mother had died. Not a fun journey back home across the Atlantic. Off to sort things out with my brothers today; not looking forward to that. Sleep would have been good but maybe a luxury at the moment.
Sorry to put a downer on things. Carry on as you were.

PasturesNew

hjd wrote: »

...a phone call from my brother ....

Sorry to hear that. Hard times.
Arrangements, keeping yourself busy, grating along with others. Sadness.

Was it unexpected? Or was it "any day now" but you had to go anyway?