Summer in England

So, today is the last day of August and, true to form, it has been miserable, rainy and sticky.

What a terrible summer we have once again endured. It really makes one think about the quality of life we have in this country and inspired me to make a list of what is wrong with this isle of ours:

• The weather really is miserable
• It is unreasonably expensive (fuel, food, energy etc)
• The yob culture continues to grow
• We have little concept of how to enjoy alcohol
• The traffic is horrendous - everywhere
• Every high street is exactly the same - nothing is different or special (every shop in every town is either WHSmith, McDonald's, Boots, Marks and Spencer, HMV etc)
• Our benefits system is a complete joke
• Taxation is unfair and far too high
• Our achievements are historical and unlikely to be superceded
  

In fairness, there are some good points too:

• Freedom of speach still exists
• The English language
• We gave the world many major sports (and then struggle to be good at any of them)
• Democracy
• Some stunning scenery
• People are in general friendly
• For a small island, we have contributed hugely to the world of literature, science, art, music and politics