Too Busy For TV? Apparently So.

        Now I may have mentioned this before, but I don't really watch TV. If I catch an hour a week, then it's a fair bit for me. Not that I have anything against TV, mind. I just don't watch it. I have a TV, but that's because I have an X-Box and it would be a very noisy and pointless decoration without one. Plus, you've got to centre the sofa around something. However even if I was overcome with the swelling and irresistible urge to be able to join in knowledgeably when someone asks "ooooo, did you see what Dot said on EastEnders the other day", I don't know how I would fit it in. I mean, I barely have enough time to do do everything I need to do as it is, let alone joining the rest of the country with four hours a day watching people in Essex say "er ma gerd" and someone in America say "gee" a lot. Also, as I've possibly mentioned before, my house lacks an actual arial in the roof, meaning that I'd have to spend even more time climbing up there, staring at the wall and pretending I know exactly what I'm doing before giving up and ringing someone, possibly called Nigel, to do it for me. Then I can spend many hours sitting in a semi-catatonic state watching other people pretend to be other people, just so I can join in a conversation that I wasn't really that interested in anyway.

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Why is "normal" so rare, when that's what we want to be?

So a few years ago, Marks & Spencer made an advert. This advert consisted of a woman running up a hill, taking all her clothes off as she did so, then standing on a box as she screamed "I'm normal!". The idea was that it would show her as a size 16, and that this is the average size in the UK. Apparently, it would stop people thinking they needed to be able to hide behind a pencil to be considered normal size, and that if you've got a stomach that keeps on turning even when you've stopped, then you're in the majority. An admirable goal, I agree. However, a pointless one, as the advert was a massive flop, and it was pulled pretty sharpish after it was launched. But why was this?

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