The Best Laid Schemes....

One of the things I really hate about being a grown-up is having to plan for the future. The other day I finally got round to having a meeting with a financial advisor to discuss various anxiety-provoking subjects like “If you were to die would Wosog, Gdog and Gsog have enough to live on?”; “If you were to be permanently unable to work would Wosog, Gdog, Gsog and (oh yes) you have enough to live on?”; “Are you putting enough into your pension?” etc., etc. I was a nervous wreck at the end of it.

The future is a serious subject that has generated a lot of humorous quotations over the years. These include: “The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive.” (John Sladek); “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” (Neils Bohr); and “The future will be better tomorrow. (Dan Quayle). Apparently there is an old Jewish proverb that goes something like “There is nothing that God finds funnier than listening to humans make plans for the future.” Personally, especially with Burns Night approaching, I think the Bard put it best: “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!”.

One of the things I really hate about being the parent of teenagers is having to plan for their future too: since they seem to find doing it themselves “too much of an effort”. But that, as the say, is another story!