ROLE MODELS, PASSION AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE

One of the great features of any language is that its form constantly changes. Words, expressions and even spelling are obedient subjects to time. Of course, English is by no means immune from regularly updating the wardrobe.

Just as importantly, the meanings of words and expressions can alter over the years and decades especially when ‘value-adding’ (itself an example of this tendency) and ‘emotion’ come into play.

The evolution of passion is one such instance. When I was a nipper, passion only really had two meanings. One was something to do with Jesus Christ and his personal fretting over the impending doom. I have a vague recollection of him sweating blood and I always considered it a bugger of a way to spend his Easter holidays. The other meaning required the user to either add the suffix ‘ate’ to the root word (no pun intended) or truncate the former to forge ‘pash’ which was more in the vernacular mode. For the younger viewers, both variants described two individuals involving themselves in a game of ‘connect-a-man/woman’ in the oral regions and testing each other’s taste buds at first derivative levels. Moreover, impure thoughts often accompanied the participants’ awkward soldering of the tongues.

But all that has changed. Now many punters list ‘passion’ on their CVs and it has nothing to do with Type O-positive or ‘quick empties’. Whilst still engaged in the world of work, I was once introduced to a new colleague at our school whose first words to me were, ‘Hi Paul, pleased to meet you and I have a passion for teaching.’ My initial audible response was ‘Hi’ but there was an inaudible sub-text of ‘Yeesh!’ The fact that this young co-worker soon proved to have more teaching ability in her little finger that I had in my whole withered corpus was irrelevant and she never lost that ‘Yeesh’ factor as far as I was concerned.

‘The only passion that guides me is the truth ……………. I look at everything from this point of view.’ Che Guevara

Making a difference is a relative newcomer to the game and it is, like passion, soaked in the self-importance of the user. It’s always seemed an inane grouping of words to me. Everyone ‘makes a difference’ no matter what they do or how they think. Whether that difference is positive or negative really depends on the situation. The wearing of a rubber stingray suit will definitely scare the kiddies away but it has made a tangible difference to the normal course of events. Take note……… if it’s altruism you’re promoting, choose some more intelligent words.

The concept of role models is one of my favourites. The social media sites are full of ‘role models’ or, at least, allusions to them. Sportspeople, colleagues, married couples and post-work dudes all achieve podium positions in the R.M. stakes. Again, the credentials of these punters for such lofty status are dodgy and rely only on the subjective opinions of their sponsors.

I’ve never met a role model for anything. There are plenty of people that I like but role models they are not. Punters are flawed, inconsistent and political…….myself included. In reality, the role model is an invention of the narcissist or the bounder, depending on what side of the equation you’re on.

In conclusion, I’ll pitch my tent in William S Burroughs’ caravan park….. ‘All the role models are being exposed and this is good because role models are shit. The quicker we expose them the better. The whole concept of role models is frightful. You gotta make your own role.’