‘Stumped for words’ is not normal for The Composer! A background in music, broadcasting, theatre and stage has equipped him well for the rehearsed (or spontaneous) ability to speak! But the last 4 weeks have seen The Composer silenced……..stumped for words.
So, before the mini-rant (last paragraph) let’s look at the positive reasons for being ‘stumped’. Not being a huge sporting connoisseur, The Composer’s interest in televised sport comes lower down the list than (say) the BBC Proms, but watching the cricket (get it?- stumped!!) has been a joy as the England team trounced their opponents. Similarly, the Women’s Football team silenced many as they progress through to the semi finals of the Women’s European Championship with a stunning win over their French rivals. July has seen a fair spate of winners at Wimbledon, and not always the ‘expected’ names. Pundits who talk about the inevitable, have been stumped into silence as the unexpected happened.
In the June Blog, The Composer promised more news of the unexpected day at Silverstone watching the Practise Day of the British G P. Well, he was stumped for words, again! Expecting it to be ‘like just any corporate day’, The Composer and Mrs C were overwhelmed by the welcome, superb hospitality, stunning service and generosity of Mercedes Benz to their guests. The unexpected visit to the ‘inner sanctum of the race track’, the pit lane garage of Mercedes, during racing to watch the team working with the cars of Hamilton and Bottas really did leave us stumped for words. What a day!
All the above are pretty good reasons to be stumped for words. BUT…..and there is always a BUT, being stumped for words at the behaviour of some people over the past weeks is, regrettably, the cause for a mini rant!! Sadly, such behaviour is seen by others – in our case, by guests from other parts of the world – who express surprise at outbursts of bad manners/behaviour and ask “is that normal in the UK?” Answering this question, The Composer is not stumped for words!