Did you have any regrets in your life?

[lin]

Hi all,
Another thread that I hope will get people chatting
Does anyone have any regrets in life?

I never liked school very much, you know how it is, you find things boring etc, but if only they taught Egyptology when I was at school, or the history of Egypt, I would have been in my element. I've since done a course in Egyptology, but there is so much more to learn, it's a constant ongoing thing...guess I'm too old now, even the Egyptologists have to sit exams every 4 years, so there's no chance for me so it's a case of just reading up on it all the time and learning heiroglyphs.
That I think is my biggest regret, although I guess if I think about it there are a few more....but I'm sure I would be doing my dream job by now in Egypt if I had those lessons at school.

Lin

[tony38337]

Hi Lin,

I know what you mean, I enjoyed school mainly because it got me out of the home for a few hours but my favourite lesson was history and my dream job is archaeologist, I always came fairly high up in the class in all but maths, unfortunately if your face didn't fit in the home then you were ignored.

Tony T

[lin]

Hi Tony T,
I would love to have been an archaeologist, I wasn't into our own history that much, but even if I were, the opportunaties was a no go here. I can imagine if your face don't fit, I think that's the case in a lot of work places today, which is all wrong.

Lin

[Lisa]

Hi Lin & Tony, Any regrets? I regret not becoming a Vet - my mother said I would be better going to Secretarial College and doing 'something useful'. I suspect she meant 'earning good money' !!! How wrong she was !! I would also have loved to have done Anthropology at University, but once I'd moved to London and started earning good money as a Secretary my dreams disappeared and the excitement of the Swinging 60's in London took over.

[lin]

Hi Lisa R.
That's a shame that you didn't become a vet, still you had pretty good job although not the same as your dreams and ambitions is it?
I take it by what you wanted to do that loved animals?
Not flower power?

Lin

[Lisa]

Hi Lin, Yes, loved animals and still do. I cry if I find a dead bird in my garden and have to give it a full funeral It must have started when I was young because I remember bringing in an injured cat from the roadside and my elder sister laughed at my distress(she continued to laugh at me throughout my life and I detested her ). I hate to see birds in cages (they should be free in trees) and hate zoos for the same reason. Cruelty to aniamls leaves me speechless......the same goes for cruelty to children and just cruelty in general.........

[lin]

Hi Lisa R, I have to agree with you, I hate cruelty to animals as well, and kids of course...but there are some real cruel vicious people out there, which really makes my blood boil. when I hear about things that have been done to defensless animals, even by their owners, I feel like I could do the same to them, and yet the animals especially dogs, remain faithful.

Lin

[tony38337]

Hey You Two,

We should start a club, youv'e just described me to a T, I hate injustice of any kind. The cruelty to animals is another issue that I hold strong on, in fact it's the main reason why I have never been to Spain. Simmilar for Turkey coupled with an abysmal record of human rights ESPECIALLY towards women. The thing that worries me is that Turkey aspires to membership of the EEC, I think that could guarantee a couple more seats to the BNP, Scary.

Tony T.

[lin]

Hi Tony T.

I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF PLACES IN THE WORLD THAT ARE LIKE THAT, AND A LOT JUST THINK THAT ANIMALS ARE THERE TO WORK, AND THEY DON'T GET LOOKED AFTER THAT WELL EITHER WHICH IS PRETTY SAD TO SEE...I HAVE EVEN SHOUTED AT PEOPLE ON HOLIDAY AT THE WAY THEY'VE TREATED THEIR ANIMALS....I AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT TURKEY...SCARY.

LIN

[Lisa]

Hi Lin & Tony, I agree about the way animals are treated in some countries. When I was in Greece a few years ago, the island was overrun with cats and some of them were in a pretty bad state. I met up with another like-minded friend while I was there and we managed to get her husband who was a doctor to get anti-biotic drops made up in the pharmacy for some of the kittens who couldnt open their eyes for infection. We also raided the local supermarket for tins of tuna (they didnt have cat food). There we were at sundown walking around the town whispering "Here Kitty Kitty.....". The locals looked at us in dismay and said "Zee crazee Ingleesh girls.....". We managed to dose quite a few of them and fed them every night. I spent most of my money on food for them and always asked for 'doggy bags' after a meal at the restaurant. The sad thing was, I found out just as I was leaving that they had a 'Cull' of all the stray cats at the end of the season, so they all would have died anyway, and I got on my plane with a very heavy heart. Once also in Greece I bought, at great expense, a large netted bag of live snails which the Greeks loved to cook live. I cycled all around the town dispersing the snails into anyone's garden I could find.........I bet they were glad to see the back of me on Kos.

[lin]

Hi Lisa R...I bet they were glad to see the back of you...lol! but I know where you're coming from...I have seen dogs with half their faces gone and riddled in maggots, dogs with ticks all over their face right the way down their bodies nearly to the hind quarters..the list is endless, it just churns your stomach to see these things...so many more but it would gross people out.

Lin

[Lisa]

Hi Lin & Viv, Can you imagine my face when I arrived in Tehran in 1969 to be greeted with a live sheep awaiting slaughter for the celebration of my arrival? But because my flight was delayed they couldnt kill it after sundown, so they were going to do it in the morning and they were all eagerly waiting for me to wake up so the slaughterman could do his job. The look on my face and the tears welling in my eyes were enough to stop them in their tracks. AND, I was expected to walk through the blood......NO WAY. I told them I would be back on the plane to London if they carried it out, so they gave the sheep away to the poor and I couldnt make them understand how I felt about their practices. I was offered sheeps eyes in the desert and at their New Year celebrations I was offered the cooked head of the chicken, eyes, cone, brain, the lot. When I declined, everyone wanted to have it and they were welcome to it........Although I did eat a meal called Kallepache in a remote village in Northern Iran and it was delicious - it was boiled sheeps head

[lin]

HI LISA R...I BET HALF THE TIME WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE EATING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES..I TRY TO LOOK AT IT THAT THEY'RE NOT WASTEFUL LIKE WE ARE, BUT THERE'S NO WAY I COULD KNOWINGLY GO THAT FAR AND EAT WHAT THEY COME UP WITH.

LIN

[vivien]

My My how you diverse - the question was any regrets and now we are talking about animals. Can tell quick thinking Mancunians their minds divert all the time I am always getting told off for it ! Cant help it if I am impatient for people to answer my questions !

Viv

[Lisa]

Hi Viv & Lin, You're so right Viv. My friend calls it "Going off at a tangent......." and she's right. Is it just Mancunians that do it or is it just females? Watch it, if Tommy reads that comment he'll be on here for days giving us gyp.

[vivien]

Hi Lin and Lisa

Tehran ? I have just read a book about Tehran and it really moved me

[Lisa]

Hi Viv, What was the book called? Have any of you ever read "Not without my daughter"? Its about an American woman who married a Persian and its her story of how she gets out of Iran alive. I could relate to that and her fear and its the kind of book you cant put down. I recommended it to a friend and she said she had to read it from cover to cover because she couldnt wait to read what happened next. Maybe I should write my story......

[lin]

HIAY LISA R & VIV.....I'M ALWAYS GOING OFF AN A TANGENT, ALWAYS BEING TOLD ABOUT IT, PEOPLE JUST CAN'T KEEP UP WITH ME DOWN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY I THINK IT'S ALL MANCUNIANS...BUT WE ARE QUICKER THINKING THAN MEN ON THE WHOLE...OOPS! WHAT HAVE I SAID NOW?...

LIN

[vivien]

I think it is just Mancunians. My friend is exactly the same but friends I have in the West Midlands are not at all like that.

Viv

[Lisa]

OOOh Lin, You'd better go in hiding now for making that comment as Tommy will be after you. I cant wait to hear what his comments are going to be.......

[lin]

I REALISED THAT, BUT I ONLY SPEAK THE TRUTH...LOL!
OK TOMMY COME ON GIVE IT YOUR WORSE....LOL!

LIN

[vivien]

Yes Lisa it was that exact same book. It really made me think about how women have to suffer and how lucky we are. There was a lady on the telly the other month from South Africa and she had suffered prison just because she has tried to get sanitary protection from women into the country...... the price of it is so expensive that they can't afford it. It is just not on is it ?

Viv

[Lisa]

Hi Viv, It was written by a lady called Betty Mahmoody. Wasnt it a good book? At least she got out......I have friends who are still there but wont leave their children and they cant leave with them so they have no choice.....

[vivien]

Yes it was the very same lady. It seems such a a cruel country.... of course I dont know your history but I suspect you lived there then ?

Viv

[Lisa]

Hi Viv, Yes, both times.......

vivien said:

Yes it was the very same lady. It seems such a a cruel country.... of course I dont know your history but I suspect you lived there then ?

Viv

[tony38337]

Hi All,

I think that to an alert and inquisitive mind a statement or a conversation can raise no end of other issues be they questions, opinions or some other sort of lateral thought, Iv'e allways thought of it as taking an intrest in what people say.

Tony T.

[Lisa]

Hi Tony, Thanks for that erudite observation. I think I shall start calling you 'The Professor'. I think you missed your way somewhat Tony.......you could have been either: a psychiatrist, a historian, or an extremely good Barrister. Because all three of those professions probed, delved and asked questions and made observations no-one else would have the courage to do. Your contribution to this Chatline is immense and I always look forward to reading your postings.

[lin]

Hey Professor Tony, Lisa is right, you certainly did miss your way, you must analyse things a lot like I do, in fact it's becoming a bad habit when you are analysing everyone. Going back to talking with Maureen about hating flying because it's so boring, well I'm the worlds worse for analysing people on planes, can't settle to read, do crosswords or even watch the movies.

Lin

[Lisa]

Hi Lin, I think you and Tony should start a business called LINTON......you both missed your way.......what with Lin doing the analising and Tony with the info, you could make a mint. One of my favourite hobbies is 'People-Watching'. If I ever get any spare time and I am in a crowded place I could spend hours just watching people's Body Language and trying to work out what makes people tick. My favourite is watching mothers with their children and their interaction - you can tell a lot of how a child will grow up just watching them with their mothers.

[lin]

HI LISA R....I'M SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE ELSE PEOPLE WATCHES AS WELL AS ME

I DONE A COURSE IN BODY LANGUAGE, SO HAVING DONE THAT I FIND IT MADE ME WORSE AT WATCHING AND STUDYING PEOPLE AND HOW THEY TICK....BUT AS YOU SAY, YOU CAN TELL A LOT BY WATCHING PEOPLE.

LIN