Thought For The Day #35

Broadcast 29th of October 2014 on BBC Radio Bristol

Audio available at http://www.mytalky.com/wSM

It’s been in the news that we may not have enough electricity this winter. Last year we had 5% more than we needed and this year we only have 4%. That does sound like a close call, especially if we have a proper cold snap.

My first thoughts when I heard this weren’t worries about blackouts but curiosity as to why the economy wasn’t as easy to understand as the national grid. I have an A-level in maths and am a professional computer programmer. I’m not afraid of numbers. But try as I might I have never been able to understand the difference between debt and deficit.

If only it was as simple as electricity. As in, this winter we’ll need 10 bags of money but right now we only have 9. The trouble is that I think this confusion is then exploited by politicians. They can make up any graphs they want that prove the other party is to blame and we’re all none the wiser.

It reminds me of the word ‘alight’. Hand on heart, who honestly knows what this word means!? Most of us have heard or read it on the buses and trains, “please take care when alighting at this station”. Okay, so by the context I can tell it has something to do with leaving. But I have never, ever heard that word in any other context. WHY CAN’T YOU JUST SAY WHAT YOU MEAN!?

The truth is I’m just as guilty of not saying what I mean. Like when I feel out of my depth or when I’m really lonely, I rarely say it out loud. Instead I either sit there in silence or get into an angry debate about how the government is to blame for everything.