Accidental Anthropologist

My wife the counselor. Bags not her job. I think if we split I’d be straight on Tinder with a no counselors need apply. No she does fantastic work, and it’s needed. She’s tending to that growing pack, The Unstuck. Families and individuals going through rough times. I’m not so Stuck myself, depending on the day. We grownups spinout, the kids soak it all up and she’s in there with first aid. A lot of the relationship wreckage she sees stems from people going under physically – food, shelter, employment. Lose the ability to provide for ourselves, our family, and the cortisol tears through the nervous system like a reverse enema. It attacks any certainty like a cancer, and it’s fallout is costly – for self, circle of affected’s, the taxpayer, society. It’s my ultimate close to home fear. And no matter where we sit in the wealth stakes, no one is exempt. All of us are just a ticket away from a derailing. We lose a family member, we go down with the big C. ...

I reckon I’ve got obedience tourettes - it started early and I blame Dr Seuss. The cat rides in on one wheel, says come on kids lets play up. Everything’s bent, no straight lines, and no sooner is he off - scott free it appears, than the Lorax steps out, taking on the man about his biggering. Then we get the aspirational Star Bellied Sneetches and power tripping Yertle the Turtle. That stuff gets in. Seuss got his sedition over the line with great verse and rhymes, fabulous cartoon pictures and the seuss suckerpunch - the story. The Dr is in. These days I run my own small business, I’m the boss it’s only me, and I often don’t do what the boss wants. This can present difficulties, and luckily I’ve a nice counsellor to have a cup of tea and a lie down with. Yep the seeds were sown early, and it’s been a game of two halves since. There’s me the pleaser, and then there’s me out riding the range, looking for opportunities to upturn the applecart, happy to take o...

When the kids were little we played a game called ‘chasing the why’. They would ask me a question, any question and I would give them an answer and they would say ‘and why’s that ?’ I would respond and they would keep drilling down with ‘why ?’ The only rule was that I couldn’t answer with ‘because I said so’. It was fun coming unstuck bending my head chasing the why. They’d use it on me with motive. Dad why can’t we have an ice cream ? Because mum and I are saving money Why ? So we can fix the Falcon Why? So we don’t have to walk everywhere Why? Because we live in the country and its 20 miles to anywhere Why ? Because your mother and I decided to try the country life and grow veggies. Why ? Because my city job finished Why’s that dad ? The bosses wouldn’t back our project Why ? I think they were scared it might fail Why ? Because if it failed they might lose their jobs Why ? Cos they have bosses too that can take their jobs away...