Sunday 2 December 2012

Not All Charitable Doings Do You Good.

‘This month keep thy body and head from cold; let they Kitchen be thy Apothecary, warm clothing thy Nurse, merry company thy Keepers, and good hospitality thine Exercise  -  such is the advice given by Neve’s Almanac of 1633.

My advice is:

Do not go out on a cold wet evening to attend a supposedly fun event at a village hall, where several people of mixed ages, male and female, who should know better, perform in front of a crowded audience, many of whom have sniffles and snuffles. If the evening’s entertainment is of the home-made variety, i.e, amateur  acts impersonating famous singers, dancers and comedians, it won’t be worth the effort. I promise you, you’d be better off sitting at home, a dog curled up at your feet, a warm husband snoring in his chair by your side. Or vice versa, a snoring dog in the husband’s chair and a husband curled up on the rug at your feet, whichever way you arrange these matters in your household. You may be promised a bowl of tasty soup and a table boasting a huge variety of puddings (English housewives do puddings of the stodgy kind rather well and with great enthusiasm), even that won’t make up for the deficiency of some of the ‘tribute’ acts. ‘A’ for effort, yes, in most cases, and two of them were actually quite good as these things go, although music and performance didn’t always coincide and  one act actually had a crib sheet for the words. “You don’t come to these things for the quality of the entertainment”, somebody said, “you come to support the event, particularly when it’s in a good cause.”  Quite so.

But if this support leaves you with a head and chest cold, which lasts for a whole week and makes no effort to leave you, and  stops you from doing things you enjoy, just send the organisers the money you would have spent making yourself ill.

And if somebody says “umbrellas are for wimps’ in your hearing, ignore them.


46 comments:

  1. paraplu,s voor watjes dat is wel een krasse uitspraak.

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  2. I am such a misanthropist I don't get colds...ever, knock on wood. Far better to have cyber friends and donate money online. Dianne

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  3. If something is supposed to be 'fun' and 'entertaining' - you can guarantee the opposite will be true. I do not know why we so readily excuse unprofessional artists, nobody should need a crib sheet, amateur or not.
    I think you've been very restrained here, and I admire your altruism. I do hope you kept everyone in earshot (during your week under the weather) fully informed with the detils of every cough, sneeze, ache, pain and level of mucus production?

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  4. Quite so - on occasions like these, there's nothing like staying at home and sending a donation.PS Hope your cold's better soon.

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  5. Sorry to hear you were bombarded with germs at the same time as all that goodwill. May this be putting your one and only seasonal contagion behind you:)

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  6. It's tough going to these events, when you make your hands sore form over-enthusiastic clapping to reward the 'entertainers' for putting so much effort into their performance . . . and you never (almost) know when you might be seeing a nascent talent in the offing! Well done - I hope you didn't catch any of the germs so freely spread;-)

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  7. You could have got the same thing for free by sleeping with a five-year-old. I am now on the mend and far less grumpy.

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  8. oy my littlest has been sick since thursday...luckily no one else in the family has taken to it..def hitting the vitamin c regularly and staying warm...sounds like it could be a fun event though, minus the sniffles...smiles.

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  9. A M E N !



    Wishing YOU a sweet week,
    with Aloha from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral

    ~ > < } } ( ° >

    > < 3 3 3 ( ' >

    ><}}(°> ~

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  10. Poor you.. I hope you are on the mend soon. Garlic and vitamin C.. and a wee nip of whatever you prefer.

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  11. You have a humorous take here on amateur performances, and resting with a dog or hubby at your feet. I hope you are all well today.

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  12. Sorry that altruism has left you under the weather, Friko. I wonder how many other attendees have suffered similar aftermath side effects. I can picture you entire village wheezing and sniffling, and vowing never again!

    Meanwhile, I advise a prolonged recovery period, with lots of pampering from those loving beings with whom you share your house.

    xo

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  13. I had to laugh at your way of describing these thoughts, but not at the wisdom. Friko, you are so right. Send the money. Stay home.

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  14. I'm still recovering from my latest illness, so these words resonated very deeply! :-)

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  15. Oh yes, my husband came home yesterday and said, "You missed the cookie walk at your church," and I said, "Good." I guess he thought I should drag myself out, along with my ghastly bronchial cough, in order to get him lots of homemade cookies, because I certainly haven't made any this year.
    No one can hand out (or handle writing about) advice such as this as well as you do, Friko. I have often seen Lindy snoring in my husband's recliner (and it's not easy for her to get into it) but I've seldom seen him sleeping on the floor (just once, and the dog was with him).
    Wonderful. You made my day.
    Luv, K

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  16. I laughed too. Support the event, but wear a face mask.

    Cozy at home sounds better to me.

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  17. Absolutely -- just send in your donation....

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  18. This is too bad – you caught something when you were just trying to be a good soul. I hope you will feel better soon and your weather will be sunny for you. Here today it was 72 F (22 C) with a full sun so it did not feel like winter season yet. Donating online is the way to go I think.

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  19. I will heed your advice. Another thing to avoid is the handshake at the 'sign of peace' in church. As much as I'd love to participate, it is just to awful to hear the coughing and hacking going on all around and then be offered a hand. No thank you!

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  20. Your remark about arranging the matters of one's household (husband/dog/rug/chair) made me smile, Friko!
    Also your description of the event at the Village Hall was funny - although I guess that, in line with my general disposition, I would have had a more benign look at the whole thing. Being given a cold is not nice! The nasty cough I could not get rid of for a full four weeks was passed on to me by a customer I met working at a fair.

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  21. Meanwhile , all the sneezers , snifflers and those that cough till they go blue are priding themselves in never letting a little thing like a cold stop them ! It's definitely the downside of life in a small community .
    Anyway , let's cut to the chase ... WAS the soup tasty ?

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  22. I think there are two sides to that: firstly yes i agree, you're hardly likely to see world class entertainments at your village hall and nor should you expect to.

    Secondly however “You don’t come to these things for the quality of the entertainment”, somebody said, “you come to support the event, particularly when it’s in a good cause.” - i don't entirely agree with that either, because putting on something totally awful and shrugging and saying "well, its for a good cause" isn't acceptable

    The quality of the acts may vary, but the effort to get the best out that you can on the night is what really counts. If you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail as someone once said.

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  23. SmitoniusAndSonata hit the nail on the head, Friko. What is it with these people who soldier on regardless of the sniffling and coughing, thus generously passing on to the rest of us whatever ails them? Much better to stay at home and nurse yourself until the germs are defeated. So sorry your charitable impulse had such nasty consequences for you. Next time, just send the money.

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  24. There are stacks of things going on in our village, but rarely anything that would tempt me along. Ten out of ten for those who do the organising and planning, though.

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  25. Hi Friko - I think your last sentence makes absolute sense! I'm staying well away from as many as possible ... I have no wish to feel like you read here!! I do hope you feel better soon and haven't passed it ('dem germs) on to hubby or Millie ...

    Cheers - mind you the bowl of soup sounds good! Hilary

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  26. Well I have one of these invitations sitting on my calendar right now...you just helped me make up my mind!! I am staying home, putting on holiday music and relaxing!!
    Thanks
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  27. Ha! I will take both curled at my feet. My husband can massage my feet while he is at it.

    Personally, I avoid going out during the evenings during the fall and winter. It is so dark and rainy every night and no matter what I do to keep warm and dry I end up cold and wet. meh

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  28. We just went out for a similar purpose, to see a comedy version of the Nutcracker. It was actually quite good; and so far, no sniffles. We'll keep our fingers crossed -- and wish you well.

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  29. Sorry to hear the cold came home with you. We participated in the annual open house at our friends' glass blowing studio this past weekend. I'm always a little leery with all the strangers trooping in and the hugs from friends I haven't seen in months. I'm not around people much for the most part and usually have pretty good health because of it. So far no sniffles.

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  30. I guess you have to have a charitable and forgiving heart to go to these charitable amateur nights.

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  31. Charity begins at home, they say. Staying home with a cold is a form of charity, I say. I hope you feel better very soon, Friko. Thanks for the laugh to start my day.

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  32. When I headed up to visit family in the midwest before our Thanksgiving, I resolved to (1) drive rather than fly and (2) get a flu shot before leaving home. Like Ellen, I'm often - usually - alone during the work week. I don't frequent the malls and very rarely attend a crowded event, so I've been mostly very healthy over the years. My suspicion is that concerts and church services are less germ-laden than school programs and movie theaters.

    I do hope you're mending. If those who are ill would be kind enough to stay home and care for themselves, this would be less of a problem.

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  33. I hope you feel better Friko!

    Oh, yes, you are right, the legs are a bit short! I think about that when I am going to make Seppl! :-)

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  34. Hallo Friko,
    geht bei mir noch wenig schwerfällig mit dem Google Übersetzer. Ich kommuniziere ja auch mit Bloggern aus Frankreich, Belgien und den Niederlanden. Englisch wird dann auch noch klappen, dass ich das verstehe. Der Rat des Mediziners aus dem Jahr 1633 passt natürlich auf die heutige Zeit. Draußen ist es heute auch ungemütlich und kalt. Wenn es drinnen warm ist, fühle ich mich dort wohl. Schnarchen kann bein uns durchaus passieren, denn ich schnarche. Ich schlafe auch schon mal vor dem Fernseher ein und schnarche.

    Schönen Abend
    Dieter

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  35. Hope you get well soon. Great advice shared.

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  36. So sorry you got sick. I hope you feel better soon. I ALWAYS have the germ-X with me year round. Here's to your health! *cheers*

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  37. Great tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  38. Oh, you poor thing! I just caught a terrible cold/cough that lasted for three weeks and I was minding my own business at home. Hard to avoid sometimes. Take extra tender care of yourself. *hugs*

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  39. I hope your cold is better soon. I like the idea of the husband gently snoring at my feet... Christine

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  40. Dear Friko, your wit and your take on the vagaries of life often make me laugh aloud, and always they make me smile. Your writing is so good for my well-being! Peace.

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  41. Dear Friko, ps., I wrote the previous comment and this one at 5 pm on Saturday, December 8. So I'm hoping that your cold is better and you feel equal to making more of those puddings! Peace.

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  42. Oh dear! Sounds frightful and funny in a sort of way. I hope by now the cold is dgone and you are much improved!

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