I have a 9-year-old son. We just moved house to a small town just outside Lyon and he started a new school. The local council have a policy of electing schoolkids to their committees to push forward the ideas that are dear to them. In order to choose which children to elect (there are 2 from each school), they hold elections and each candidate must present a manifesto. I was immensely surprised that my son decided that he would like to stand - he's not one of these over-earnest kids and is in fact, quite shy - maybe because he was the new boy, he didn't know any better.
Anyway, his manifesto was a simple, "green manifesto":
- All street-lights to use low energy bulbs
- Larger recycling bins for all residents
However, I am pretty sure that I won't be seeing local council employees replacing the bulbs any time soon. But he's as pleased as hell! The trouble is that, if he is as pleased as hell, he is making my life hell. I am now required to:
- Replace all light bulbs in the house with low-energy versions.
- Stop the tap running while brushing my teeth
- Stop the shower while applying soap!
- Recycle the smallest scrap of paper.
- All leftover food to be placed on the compost heap (not sure what this achieves, but I do it anyway - I will tell you in 1 year when I have my first "harvest").
He doesn't realise that I am years ahead of him: when I was was a lad, every Friday was fish-and-chips night, and it was always wrapped in recycled newspaper. We were way ahead of our time and we didn't even know it! Funnily enough, my French friends look at me incredulously when I tell them that:
- We eat fish and chips, smothered in animal fat.
- It is wrapped in yesterday's newspaper.
- I have French friends
- They don't eat fish and chips in France (unless it's at McD*****ds)
PS: Kenny, you are not the only one to use obscure song quotes in your post titles.
7 comments:
Good on him! You'll have to teach him that politicians want you to "do as they say, not as they do" so he doesn't have to make you so energy conscious at home...
Funny about the obscure song references in post titles - I do that a lot myself!
There's nothing obscure about "New Order"... especially when your wee 'un's about to start one (A New Order that is!!!!!) Besides which it's also a film title as well.
All hail energy saving light bulbs - apart from that piss poor bit where they are "warming up" and you trip over and fall down the stairs - all hail solar panels.... wind farms.... compost......
With regards to the compost, I still haven't found a use for it either..... I fill plastic carrier bags with it and throw it in the dustbin, mixed with a 75:25 ratio of those plastic things that hold "packs of four" lager cans together for good measure in case any animals manage to burst through the carrier bags, and to ensure that they choke themselves before they can make off with my composted landfill comodity.
FoX
PS: I am pleased that your son has found politics and environmentally friendliness at such a tender age, and in such close connection... it won't be too long before he has had all that nonsense "corrected".
I think your son's enthusiasm is great!
In fact i'm off to buy some energy saving light bulbs!
Qui est obscure? Oh, okay, I know I'm terrible for doing that.
Give your son a pat on the head for me, and then buy him a guitar or a piano.
BTW, I've been fascinated by this for a long time. Does he speak English as a first language or French? My kids in the US speak Yank, which pleases me not a jot. I suppose at least you can understand them.
As the Fox said, New Order titles are not quite as obscure as Half-Man, Half-Biscuit, but it depends on your readership I suppose. Given that I don't have a handle on mine, it seemed obscure enough.
As for my kids' language, I am sad to report that French is now their first language, although they slip between the two with no problem. They tend not to like being with me when I need to speak to someone in French because of my horrible accent. I don't like to tell them that I've also got a terrible accent when I speak English.
And don't worry, there is a piano and a guitar in the house. ..
How clever of him!
Maybe he will come and help my husband design a windmill for our house?
I'll be sure to stop by your blog more often.
Best,
Riana
Unless it's the type of windmill you can buy on the local market that can be held by babies in prams, then I don't think we will be able to provide you with anything that will generate enough electricity to heat the house...
Thanks for stopping by - I'll return the favour! I see you have a network of blogging contacts with similar backgrounds - and here's me thinking I was the only foreigner in France! The different takes on life in France, given our widely different backgrounds, might make for some interesting comments...
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