Indeed, let’s put things to the test. I’m going to tell your readers a story:

I co-founded Bangor English Dramatics Society (www.undeb.bangor.ac.uk/beds) and was co-founding President of the society. We put on a play in the depths of winter in North Wales. Outside, the wind and winter weather raged but inside, the audience watched the play. The changing rooms for the actors were downstairs in the building and you could only reach them (without going on stage) by going outside and going round the back of the building. If we left the changing rooms unlooked and stuff was stolen, Estates would have our blood. So I went out into the freezing weather to check they were locked.

I trudged along a small, muddy footpath. To my left was a large grassy mound with quite a big drop. If you fell, it’d be a while till you reached level ground. The wind was howling and it was terribly cold. But I reached the changing rooms unscathed.

They were unlocked. I went inside and checked around. All clear. I went back outside and locked the changing rooms. I took a few steps and…

I fell. Well, when I say “I fell” I actually rolled at very high speed down the grassy mound, becoming caked in deep, thick mud as I rolled. Any skin that wasn’t covered with winter clothes was grazed and my mobile phone (which was in my pocket) pressed so deeply into my body that- when I checked later on- I found it had left an imprint on my skin.

I clawed my way back up the hill- only to notice a perfectly good footpath up the hill that I could have just walked along to get back up much more quickly. I was more than a bit annoyed. I went back inside the performance area and informed my co-director that I was off home to change but would rush back. My co-director didn’t like this idea and said it might look unprofessional. I told her I didn’t care. The audience consisted of complete strangers, friends and two ex girlfriends. I wasn’t looking a twit in front of them. I stormed out and headed home.

The halls of residence were a long way away and, by this time, it had started to snow. By the time I got back to my room, I looked like a walking snowman.

I tell that story to people who are feeling down or have had bad days in order to try to cheer them up. It usually does cheer people up and I don’t mind people laughing at things that happen to me. I hope readers of this blog have found this story funny. But just imagine for one minute that, on the way down that grassy mound, I had hit my head on a very hard rock or hard edge. Would the story be funny then? Readers of this story have no perception of what happened other than the one I gave them through this story. They weren’t there. They don’t know if I felt pain or not. Indeed, they only have their trust in me to help them judge whether any of what I’ve said actually happened. We can look at the misfortunes of others and, sometimes, laugh. But there, but for the grace of the Goddess, go us all.