CROWDED HOUSE..
The criterion for awarding `honours` in the UK is that candidates should have `given valuable service to the nation.` I suppose there was a time when this was strictly adhered to but more recent examples have made me wonder just what the value to the nation has been by the service given by those such as Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Tom Jones, Sir Elton John, aka Reg Dwight, Sir Brucie, not to mention the infernal Sir Fergie and those in receipt of `lesser` gongs such as former England and Portsmouth custodian David James, golfer Luke Donald and countless time serving civil servants.
Now there`s a lot of fuss about whether all our Olympic medallists should all be honoured and, if they are, then I have no problem with that as they have truly inspired a generation, even the older one - a service more valuable than many others. But then there are so many other people who contributed to the outstanding success of London 2012 and who are in danger of being overlooked when the gong committee meets to sort it out - the construction workers, the landscape gardeners, those who worked through the night transforming the stadium and the thousands and thousands of volunteers. They all deserve our thanks and our admiration and if there`s any justice in the honours system (don`t laugh, please) then they would all turn Buckingham Palace into a crowded house for an investiture fest.
On the other hand, if the trend continues to hand out honours on such a vast scale - and part of me wonders why not - then the day will surely come when I find myself the only one left known as plain Mister, at which point, I will finally be the recipient of literally a singular honour in recognition of the fact that I have singularly failed to give any sort of valuable service to the nation..
Now there`s a lot of fuss about whether all our Olympic medallists should all be honoured and, if they are, then I have no problem with that as they have truly inspired a generation, even the older one - a service more valuable than many others. But then there are so many other people who contributed to the outstanding success of London 2012 and who are in danger of being overlooked when the gong committee meets to sort it out - the construction workers, the landscape gardeners, those who worked through the night transforming the stadium and the thousands and thousands of volunteers. They all deserve our thanks and our admiration and if there`s any justice in the honours system (don`t laugh, please) then they would all turn Buckingham Palace into a crowded house for an investiture fest.
On the other hand, if the trend continues to hand out honours on such a vast scale - and part of me wonders why not - then the day will surely come when I find myself the only one left known as plain Mister, at which point, I will finally be the recipient of literally a singular honour in recognition of the fact that I have singularly failed to give any sort of valuable service to the nation..
No comments:
Post a Comment