Men who don't drive

[EternalOptimist]

I didn't say you were.

Don't be so touchy.

pot, kettle

[expat]

'Any man, over the age of 30 who finds himself on a bus, can consider himself a failure...'
Was this a quote from Maggie T ?

It was over the age of 26, and it was written for her by a speechwriter but never actually used.

And if your reaction is not to say that you can think of times when you might take a bus but that doesn't mean you're a failure, then I accuse you of failure of imagination, as well as willingness to be bossed.

Actually I knew an aristocratic Persian princess living in reduced circumstances in Paris, who would take the bus if necessary, but would not go down in the Métro because it was degrading. It depends on your point of view what you find acceptable and what not, and Thatcher's scriptwriter's point of view was just one particular parochial prejudice: "our kind of people" do not take the bus.

[expat]

...
Plus, I like a man who drinks! I'd rather have a bloke meet me in the pub and get me mortal, than pick me up from work to take me home.

I like that. Reminds me of a colleague who said that her man didn't mind her coming home late as long as it was from being in the pub and not from being in the office.

[expat]

Wouldn't having only one eye have an effect on his ability to have a licence?

No. What makes you think that? Do you remember being tested for vision in both eyes before getting a licence?

[expat]

I'd like to be a man who doesn't drive: on the M25, to Tesco, etc.

Car adverts are always on some hairpin bends in the Alps, racetracks, etc. I guess they sell more that way than showing the reality of being stuck in a 10 mile traffic jam on the M6.

That's kind of what went through my head when I bought my current car. At the time I was doing hours a day in stop-go traffice, so I considered an automatic. Eventually I decided that an automatic would make the worst bits of driving better, whereas a manual would make the best bits of driving better.

[expat]

I've just realised that I have made the last 4 posts in this thread. Sorry.

[expat]

I've just realised that I have made the last 4 posts in this thread. Sorry.

Well, 5 really, counting that one.

Oh

[SallyAnne]

I like that. Reminds me of a colleague who said that her man didn't mind her coming home late as long as it was from being in the pub and not from being in the office.

Ahhhh - that guy sounds lovely!!

[Sysman]

Actually I knew an aristocratic Persian princess living in reduced circumstances in Paris, who would take the bus if necessary, but would not go down in the Métro because it was degrading. It depends on your point of view what you find acceptable and what not, and Thatcher's scriptwriter's point of view was just one particular parochial prejudice: "our kind of people" do not take the bus.

Speaking of Paris, I arrived there with a car and found parking a nightmare, so got shut. A combination of Metro and taxis got me most places I wanted to be, the advantage of a taxi being that if you got in a really nasty snarl up you could jump out and walk. I could borrow or rent a car when I had visitors, so the best of both worlds.

Sometime during that gig I had a break in London and met someone who really couldn't understand why I didn't have a car, and he quoted that "Thatcher line" about being a failure at me. Brainwashed!

[OwlHoot]

'Any man, over the age of 30 who finds himself on a bus, can consider himself a failure...'
Was this a quote from Maggie T ?

Sigh, here we go again. Must be the tenth time I've posted this.

No, it was Loelia Ponsonby, in 1920, before Maggie Thatcher was born.