{"id":6465,"date":"2019-04-15T09:19:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T09:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=6465"},"modified":"2019-04-15T09:20:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T09:20:28","slug":"be-prepared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/?p=6465","title":{"rendered":"Be Prepared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Scout belt\/damesnet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I never \u2018flew up\u2019 from the Brownies into the Guides: I got the hump because someone got their writer\u2019s badge before I did \u2013 not that I\u2019d written anything, I just thought I deserved one \u2013 and flounced out of the movement. Nevertheless, \u2018Be prepared\u2019 is the motto I continue to live by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some that would say that I carry this too far, and I\u2019m forced to admit that they\u2019re probably right. When driving, my passengers, for example, are not very happy with my habit of getting into the right (well, left-hand) lane on the motorway at least ten miles before my turn-off, just in case my exit is cut off when we get there. (And I reserve my deepest contempt and loathing for those who weave across all lanes until about 50 metres before their exit then carve you up at the last moment.) But the prospect of having to sail past my turning is just too awful to contemplate, so I\u2019ll happily sit in in the fume-laden slipstream of an ancient Duel<\/em>-style lorry for twenty minutes at a time. (Still, better behind than in front of a tail-gating monstrosity.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next to matters of etiquette: Mr Verity and I have a regular disagreement over when it\u2019s most hospitable to offer your guests a drink. He favours letting them get in the door, get their coats off, and sit down comfortably before offering them anything. I\u2019d be getting a bit nervous by that time, frankly, wondering whether I was in for a spot of Reggie Perrin-style entertaining, whereby the host announces that he is donating the cost of the meal to Oxfam and starts handing round the cheese sandwiches. Ideally, I\u2019d like guests to text in their orders in advance, so that I can have them ready and waiting by the time they arrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we \u2018Be prepared\u2019 types are pretty tiresome to be around, and the need to be in a constant state of readiness generates some pretty unacceptable controlling behaviour. Pity the poor children just trying to live in their home once I have cleaned and tidied it for impending guests: they will not be allowed to sit down anywhere, have anything to eat \u2013 or pehaps even go to the loo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nalso start going downstairs in the bus at the red light before my stop (no\npoint in being tipped head first into the bottom of a bus), and I get my pass\nand my keys out long before they\u2019re needed. In fact, the imperative to be\nprepared dictates my choice of handbag: negotiating a rucksack would be just\ntoo time-consuming. It must be a shoulder bag with an internal pocket that I\ncan reach into without breaking my stride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prematurely,\nI hope, I\u2019m beginning to turn my thoughts to not leaving our house too full of\njunk to be sorted through on our demise, and have made some feeble attempts at\ndecluttering by using up mini-soaps (as documented on these pages previously)\nand discarding a collection of cosmetic samples long past their use-by date.\nBut there is a distinct danger that I will spend the last two years of my life sitting\nwaiting for the Grim Reaper, ready-wrapped in my shroud\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. . . they will not be allowed to go to the loo . . . <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,67,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6465"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6479,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6465\/revisions\/6479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damesnet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}