Watching the English

RULES OF PLAY

I am using the term 'play' here in a very broad sense, to mean any leisure activity: pastimes, hobbies, holidays, sport - anything that is not work, anything that we do in our spare time (with the exception of the specific things covered in later chapters on food, sex and rites of passage).

The English have three different approaches to leisure, relating to our three main methods of dealing with our social dis-ease, our incompetence in the field - minefield might be a better term - of social interaction:

* First, there are private and domestic pursuits, such as DIY, gardening and hobbies (the 'go home, shut the door, pull up the drawbridge' method).

* Second, we have public, social activities such as pubs, clubs, sports and games (the 'ingenious use of props and facilitators' method).

* Third, we have anti-social pursuits and pastimes, such as getting very drunk and fighting (our least attractive way of dealing with social dis-ease, the 'become loud and aggressive and obnoxious' method).