Do you ever have one of those days when you seem to spend a lot of time thinking about the past? Well, we do that regularly (obviously) but there have been several occasions in the last few days when we have harked back to a few select ‘institutions’ of yesteryear, mostly of the televisual nature. Some of these may require some Googling for those non-UK residents as I am not entirely sure how many of these wonders have crossed ponds, continents and large volumes of water.
Friends on Facebook will be aware that working in the offices of FWL this weekend was a little challenging. I turned into Victor Meldrew (of One Foot in the Grave fame). The BBC website states that “this classic British sitcom followed the misfortunes of cantankerous old grouch Victor Meldrew as he railed against the injustices of the world around him.” Hard to imagine me as a grouch or one to have sense of humour failure, but I did vociferously question the need for small children to all congregate in the garden behind my office window and scream the place down. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with hearing children playing and having fun. It is the incessant unnecessary screaming – which goes completely unnoticed by the parents – that interrupts my train of thought and affects my sanity.
In the post office this morning – my second home – a rather interesting gentleman popped up to the counter to speak to one of the members of staff and, although it took me sometime to realise who he reminded me of, I eventually remembered that it was Chris Barrie, who played Gordon Brittas in The Brittas Empire – a sitcom about a well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. Interestingly, the exterior shots of the leisure centre were filmed at Ringwood Leisure Centre, Hampshire (near where I grew up!), and the interior shots of the swimming pools seen in the show were also shot there. I am sure it wasn’t Chris Barrie in Calne Post Office today though….
Monday has been a day of variety and culminated in a visit to Reading to have a meal with a good friend of mine. During our meal, we were ‘entertained’ by a ‘couple’ next to us who were clearly having a blazing row. The characters in our real life sitcom were nothing like Mr and Mrs Bucket – that’s pronounced Bouquet – but the gentleman was certainly as ‘handbag-battered’ as Richard is in Keeping Up Appearances! Never a dull moment, whether in or out of the offices of FWL!
Source image: TJoonz.com
