Too Much Time

In half term the people who work in schools suddenly have time to do things they wouldn't normally do.  Teachers can be seen having morning coffee, lunch with friends,drinking  in the pub for the evening, reading books on park benches, going for extra-long walks, cleaning the house or seeing a film. For me, it's answering the telephone.  I don't normally answer the phone (unless I see my mum or my daughter's number come up on the screen) as I don't think I have time to talk to random strangers about my plans for home improvement or my financial arrangements but in the holidays it's one of my secret pleasures to talk to these people.  I even open the door to Jehovah Witnesses.

I was listening to the radio, where they were discussing Liz Truss' visit to China to find out Shanghai's secret to beating us in the PISA test for maths when the phone rang.  The screen flashed 'INTERNATNL' (spelling isn't a strength of my phone) and I thought, "why not?".  A woman with a very heavy Indian accent said, "Hello, my name is  Maude..."
I snorted my recently sipped water through my nose with laughter, "No it's not!" I argued.  Now, I realise that this was probably a bit rude but if her name was really Maude then my name is Rijul.  She tried to stick to her script for a while and then I asked her if they are given a book of English names to choose from.  She said that she'd like me to answer a few simple questions about home-ownership so I said that I would if she told me her real name.  She said that they were really simple questions and I said that I refused to talk to anyone who wouldn't give me their real name.  She continued without giving her name - or even acknowledging that I had asked her for something.  Then I realised that she probably only understood the answers to the questions that she was programmed to ask.  So I just said, "No thank you," and put the phone down.

It started me thinking, though, about differences between Countries and how I don't want them all to be the same.  I don't want people from India to pretend to have English names, they should be happy with the names they have.  I want the Norwegians to be the best in the Winter Olympics because they have lots of snow and are good at moving around in it.  I want the Swiss to top the PISA tables for maths because they all grow up to be bankers (as that and watch making are the only industries). And I know I am wildly stereotyping but I don't think the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) are helping their cause with the PISA tests.  We can't co-operate and develop economically if we are all trying to be the same - we have to work with the strengths and resources we've got.