The ‘Great Escape’
John Hillman discusses the joys of growing old and taking advice from Robert Peston
The two biggest signs of getting old must be noticing that the weathermen look younger than you and thinking that Christmas has suddenly blended into autumn.
No sooner has your creaking body recovered from the hangover sustained at your friends Halloween party before you find yourself wondering around chintzy department stores looking at multi-function toasters.
And what a dodgy Christmas this is looking set to be; credit crunch Britain is in full swing now, and the press are loving it so much that they’ll probably start the holiday season with BBC finance editor Robert Peston running up to cameras and screaming “it’s too late, grab what you can and save yourselves!” whilst pointing a loaded pistol at the side of his head.
Most of us are, by now, quite fed up of being told that the world is about to end; there is only so much paranoid hyperbole the brain can take. So there is only one thing for it: pack up the car and head to Europe for Christmas.
Grab the tree and the kids, don’t worry about the food there’s plenty on the continent, and head to your nearest P&O ferry port. Once on the other side of the channel find yourself a secluded spot and settle in, relaxed in the knowledge that news in a foreign language isn’t really true. Honestly, a bloke from my local told me.
[...] The Frock Report at The Times wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Growing old with Robert Peston The two biggest signs of getting old must be noticing that the weathermen look younger than you and thinking that Christmas has suddenly blended into autumn. No sooner has your creaking body recovered from the hangover sustained at your friends Halloween party before you find yourself wondering around chintzy department stores looking at multi-function toasters. And what a dodgy Christmas this is looking set to be; credit crunch Britain is in full swing now, [...]