“The society which has abolished every kind of adventure makes its own abolition the only possible adventure.” Paris, May 1968


Tuesday 26 May 2009

The Guv'nor.

One of the many everyday social changes that George Orwell noted about revolutionary Barcelona was the dropping of formal forms of address. I hate being called "Sir" by shop assistants, not least because of the very obvious insincerity. Respectful forms of address don't necessarily imply hierarchy and subservience I suppose. It can just be an acknowledgment of respect between equals. I am of a generation who would address male strangers as "chief" and I am now of an age when  I get to be called "Guv'nor" occasionally. Truth be told, I quite like it.

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