Unbreakable
May. 31st, 2025 08:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphilo 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Time for tea.
Only this time I paused and thought "Why?"
And the answer came readily. Because it's a habit. In fact more than a habit. It's something the English do. A national ritual. As the song from the thirties has it....
EVERYTHING STOPS FOR TEA.
Even at my boarding school we had an afternoon tea break. The Brooke Bond was spooned into pots, currant buns were distributed. And one was fortified for one's late afternoon lessons.....
"Well," I thought. "Today I'm going to break the shackles. No cup of tea for me. Why I don't even want one." But even as I squared up against a lifetime's conditioning the desire was growing within me and I found myself filling the kettle.
Only this time I paused and thought "Why?"
And the answer came readily. Because it's a habit. In fact more than a habit. It's something the English do. A national ritual. As the song from the thirties has it....
EVERYTHING STOPS FOR TEA.
Even at my boarding school we had an afternoon tea break. The Brooke Bond was spooned into pots, currant buns were distributed. And one was fortified for one's late afternoon lessons.....
"Well," I thought. "Today I'm going to break the shackles. No cup of tea for me. Why I don't even want one." But even as I squared up against a lifetime's conditioning the desire was growing within me and I found myself filling the kettle.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-31 02:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-05-31 04:51 pm (UTC)