Choice Blog

Words we dread to hear...

Most of us know the feeling. You wake at dawn in another country travel to the airport, and take a long, sleepless flight... but now you're going round in circles. England's greenery lies below you and then frustratingly, you hear the aircraft captain say "Please bear with us. We could be able to get down pretty soon. I'll keep you posted."

A friend offered this (and the apologies for late take-offs) as messages the words he most dressed. That set me thinking about I'd least like to hear...

As a schoolboy, crazy about cricket, I would look out of the classroom window on the morning of a match and will the dark clouds go away, then be devastated when the sports master destroyed my day with: "Game's off today, lads. Rain on the way." Equally unwelcome was the rude awakening I often got when daydreaming in class.

"Patrick, as you've obviously been listening so intently, please come  through and talk us through the equation on the board." My crestfallen face at these times must have resembled my father's when coming home heavy with weariness my mother greeted him with variations on a theme: "Thee's something wrong with the toilet"... "The washer's conked out"... "We've had a bill from.."

Like him, I can still be rendered wobbly by unwelcome words such as: "Here you are, love; a letter for you. Looks like the Inland Revenue..."

It can happen at night time when dreaded words tend to be whispered. "Wake up. Wake up! I think I can hear someone moving about downstairs..."

Unwelcome utterances can come even when you're supposed to be having fun. You're listening to a singer,, and enjoying the music, and hen come the words that fall like rain on your parade: "Now I'd like to do a couple of my own songs..."

Even happy times with grandchildren can be ruined by a few unwelcome words "Grandpa, will you play Monopoly with us. Please!". How can you explain that you's rather put your bottom through a bacon slicer than endure a game that should surely have been called monotony?

The dental surgery is a prime place for hearing dreaded words- for example, "Sorry but I don't think I can save it, but hopefully you'l still be able to bite." At the doctor's, and in hospital, can come the words absolutely no one wants to hear: "I have something I'd tell you. Perhaps you'd like to sit down." 

I'd love to hear about words you dread to hear- light hearted or serious, let us know on the Choice Facebook page