{"id":3061,"date":"2015-09-07T08:00:57","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=3061"},"modified":"2015-09-07T08:11:05","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T08:11:05","slug":"nostalgia-aint-what-it-used-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=3061","title":{"rendered":"Nostalgia ain\u2019t what it used to be"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chris<\/a>

Chris Piascik\/Cut & Paste: Nostalgia\/flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe it was the wet summer, or the fact that there is a wasps\u2019 nest in the garden which still seems to be flourishing even though I paid the council to get rid of it, or maybe I\u2019d had a surfeit of shocking news items. Whatever the cause, I became extremely worried recently because I seemed to be turning into a female equivalent of John Major.<\/p>\n

Now this does not mean I was tempted to aspire to the highest office in the land, nor\u00a0was I gazing lasciviously at the male equivalent of Edwina Currie (suggestions on a postcard please). I didn’t\u00a0<\/span>wish to drink some warm beer and nor was I fighting the urge to wear my knickers over my trousers.<\/p>\n

You might well be wondering what was left of the John Major legacy \u2013 yes I know, how could I forget his radical Cones Hotline policy? \u2013 well, it was nostalgia. Cue for warm fuzzy feeling around the toes, radiant sunshine with vistas of Hovis landscapes, people leaning over farm gates chewing straws, and there in the distance a large soft focus sign in the clouds saying BACK TO BASICS.<\/p>\n

The Major Back to Basics speech was all about the values of neighbourliness, decency and courtesy. There was a yearning for self-discipline and respect for the family and the law. Then just as I was losing myself in a fluffy reverie involving scones and jam I suddenly came to with a start. I realised that actually things really weren’t so bad:<\/p>\n