The wonders of the world

You know us by now. We Freds wonder about stuff. So here’s a few more things I can’t get my head round.

1) Some weeks ago I passed through Ghent’s busiest shopping street while it was close to zero degrees outside. At once I was reminded of something that has puzzled me forever: why the hell are fashion and shoe shops allowed to keep their doors wide open all the time? You can actually feel the wasted heat against your cheeks as you pass by on the pavement! How much energy and money could we save just by shutting the door like mum taught us to?

2) A while ago my car battery was dead. When I had finally found someone who had jump cables, he wanted to listen to the sound the car made first. He knew cars; so he would  be able to tell if it was a mechanical thing, not an electric one. I put the key in the ignition, turned it and voilà, the car started no problemo. Crap, just bothered someone for no reason. But why is it every time something is broken it miraculously fixes itself once the expert has shown up? Think plumbing, toilets, computers, phones and such. Only to break when the expert has left…

3) Also: why do we still have announcements in our railway stations? You know, those announcing stupid stuff like The train for Brussels is arriving at platform 2. First of all, in 99% of the cases, you’ll hear this several minutes before the train arrives. (That just gets me nervous.) Secondly, the volume is usually louder than shit. (I want to listen to my iPod, dude!) And thirdly, it’s not as if I don’t know where to go if I didn't hear these messages. I mean, either you look it up on the Internet or you look at the giant screen in the entry hall, or at the television screens in the corridors, or at the screens on the platforms themselves. We don't need an uninterested woman’s nasally drone announcing which train is arriving or (more often) delayed. (We saw the red +5, thank you very much!)

4) And the most frightening thought: today I realised that I have no idea when the last time was I swam. Suddenly I wondered: on average, how long until you forget how to and drown? 

Holy crap!