Looking at the absurdities of life and death

AS many people who imagine they know me have noticed, I don’t take life or death very seriously. I’ve been prepared for both all my life and experienced the pain and absurdity of both.

With very similar experiences to most men, black, white or brown, over 86 years, I have learned quite a bit about the so-called “British” way of life.

I’m as cynical as anybody, but still enjoy playing the comedy parts. I’m not too keen on real drama, especially anything to do with death. Death Takes a Holiday was quite an amusing play in which to play “Death”! I was dead from the first line! Of course Yorkshire people thought that was dead funny!

Not only ever since, but up to that date, I had suffered from and witnessed so much death that, for me, it couldn’t be anything but comedy! Sadly, human life had always been dafter and rarely interpreted responsibly, although actually probably about a third of the population (always growing) do take life quite seriously and responsibly, but in regard to that there has definitely been an overall deterioration in manners, attitudes and balanced sensible thinking about the very word “life”.

This, I think, probably applies throughout the world, especially in regard to teaching young people from our now deteriorating seniority. We are certainly not good models.

I did my best in my work but I’ve received little thanks for it – even for the eight-and-a-half years I spent in the Army from 1944 onwards – nor did my brothers. Sadly, I had no sisters – only those I was forced to call sisters, who weren’t even Roman Catholics!

Thank God, I’ve seen and can still see the absurd side of it all!