Tuesday, November 01, 2011

I might not be much of a gatherer but I draw a neat daisy

I was feeding Husband Maltesers in the bath - I know! How lucky is he?! - when he was telling me about a documentary he watched last night about a remote nomadic tribe in Africa that still lives the very simple hunter gatherer lifestyle. They have a monogamous culture and when the women were asked what they looked for in a husband they said, 'A good hunter and a good sharer.' No mention of good looks or sense of humour.

Anyway, in spite of the fact that it's the men who do the hunting it's the women gatherers who provide 60% of the family's needs. 'Twas ever thus.

Anyway I was thinking about what it would be like to live like that and the first thought that occurred to me was: what do they use for toilet paper?

Oooh, I've got to have a good toilet, me. I even have nightmares about not being able to find one that's clean or unblocked or dry-floored.

Husband said the documentary was okay but they could have got the one hour's programme into 15 minutes if they hadn't repeated themselves and waffled so. Much like last night's trustee meeting.

I'm not the ideal person to take minutes in normal trustee meetings as I drift off until someone says, 'Have you got that, Liz?'
'Hm, yes! What?!'

But I'm even worse in budget meetings when the talk goes to figures and reserves and deficits and outgoings. I put the time to good use though: I perfected my daisy-drawing skill.


6 comments:

Leslie: said...

You just need to dream of husband feeding YOU malteasers in the bath! Then all will be fine. lol

Katney said...

When I have to include the finance commettee's report in the minutes it is always strangely lacking in numbers.

Ole Phat Stu said...

No bog paper; the left hand is reserved for ass-wipe duties which is why there is a tabu on using it otherwise in arabian and african countries.

Remember reading that a Roman soldier gave Jesus on the cross a sponge soaked in vinegar to slake His thirst? Well guess what THEY were used for. That was NOT compassion, it was mockery.

Furtheron said...

You feed your husband Malteesers in the bath!!!! That man is the luckiest guy on the planet! I hope he realises that.

I agree with him on the programme - I watched the series and it was quiet interesting but continually repeated itself - and I'd have liked more conversation about the "branches" on the tree - only at the very end did they talk about Neanderthals - talk of some interbreeding (mostly in Chatham I'd venture given my observations) but how come they did die out - the other branches as well? Maybe not much is conclusively known - that would still have been massively interesting as well. How come the Neanderthals came out of Africa, colonised Europe then some thousands of years later along come us lot... Loads of un-answered questions. The book of Genesis has obtuse references that I know some scholars consider refer to Neanderthals - so did our ancestors 5000 - 6000 years ago have that much knowledge passed down? It would have been at least 25000 years old by then - assuming our estimation of the extinction of them is correct of course.

nick said...

Jenny doesn't feel secure unless she has a stockpile of at least 12 toilet rolls ready for immediate use. Me, I just want some steaming hot water to wash my hands with.

Liz Hinds said...

Hmmm, that would be nice, leslie!

I agree, katney. That's the treasurer's job to supply those.

I didn't know that about the sponge, stu.

You'd get on well with Husband, furtheron.

I'm with Jenny on that, nick!