And of course, the moment you go out for 5 minutes to get something, that's the time they arrive, and then leave because you're not there.
I have a NASTY example of this that I will probably never forgive my mother for. If not for this, my career prospects may well have been far greater than at present.
A few years ago my family and I were watching Countdown, and afterwards an advert came up asking people with a mathematical gift to attempt a challenge on the Channel 4 website. Being inclined in this way, and hoping to prove to the world (or at least the United Kingdom anyway) this ability, I logged on and completed the task to hand.
The next day, roughly 24 hours after the request was put out, the phone rang. It was the producers advising me that I was in the top 150 to have attempted the test! (By population, this suggests a 1-in-400,000 chance, or 250% of the population of Southend and roughly equal it, its urban area, Canvey Island and Basildon combined.) After a lengthy discussion they suggested that they would like to meet me, and would send a camera to Shoeburyness the next day. They said they would call back later that day to confirm the plan.
Meanwhile, my mother had become very impressed with me (for once
), and requested that she tell her sister about it. I was given no choice but to reluctantly accept this, and told her to be two minutes only. Twenty minutes would then pass before she hung up - and the producers had called after eight. And with that, my chance had gone.
And that leads me to another frustration: Gossip! If you need to do it, fine - but not when it gets in the way of something important! And if you are told to be finished within a set timescale, abide by it!
Never again have or will I allow(ed) my mother this luxury - and sometimes, as with my BBC thread a few days ago, I now refuse to even advise her of such proposals. She will not be given the chance to ruin an opportunity like that ever again.
