The following story I found here but it was too good not to repeat it in its entirety.
Thank you mr Owen for this jewel.
————————————————————————————
The best teacher I ever had
Mr. Whitson taught sixth-grade science. On the first day of class, he gave us a lecture about a creature called the cattywampus, an ill-adapted nocturnal animal that [...]
Four days a week it is open, more or less all through the year, the central marketplace in The Hague called the Haagse Markt. Claiming to be the biggest marketplace in Europe, it offers the visitor around 500 different stalls with products ranging from fruit and vegetables to clothing and shoes. It is a [...]
The modern interpretation of the word “terrorism” confuses me sometimes. It seems that nowadays, terrorism is considered an action against the actual victims of violence. This used to be called (mass)murder. “Terrorism” is the “-ism” involving “terror,” but I may – as usual – be oversimplifying things or overly conservative with regards to etymology. In [...]
Most European countries give their permanent residents a social security number. In Sweden, however, this so called “personal number” takes on a special significance. It’s the ultimate means of identification. All government offices, banks, shops etc. use it to look up and verify your details in the national database. This also means that the only [...]
Last weekend, I was walking around St Albans, right by the abbey and ran into a bum. Not the drunk or the crazy-eyed amphetamine type, but the down-on-his-luck type. Alright, he might have been slightly crazy-eyed, but not in that speed-freak kind of way. Anyway, he asked me whether I knew whether there was a [...]
Last night, I met up with fellow Gibburtian Philip for the first time in ages. As we were walking across Waterloo Bridge, we encountered a young fellow riding piggyback on another, while giving detailed advice on how to hold him more securely. Later, we were approached by a couple of hoodied teenagers who asked us [...]
Gibburt