Denis: Pausing and rewinding the good times

Dec 5 2008 by Our Correspondent, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I PAUSED the film I was watching on television and went to make a cup of tea.

When I returned, I forgot about the film. What would it be like, I thought, if we could run our lives with a remote control?

TV would be a lot less popular, especially among people of a certain age; those who had racked up a fair amount of living.

They could sit back on the settee on an evening and rewind their lives to play the most pleasurable bits again.

Ah yes, I remember them well.

And how wonderful to stumble across those good times you had forgotten whilst fast forwarding through your teens.

The more I think about it, this is a service that should or could only be made available to folk with a certain mileage on the clock.

Teenagers don’t need to rewind. Their senses are still new and experiences are fresh. They have hope and future ahead of them.

No, this is a facility that should be kept for middle age when you realise you never will play football for Manchester United or be a pop singer and have settled for a steady job and family.

Its use should be rationed or we could get rewind junkies as addicted to the past as alcoholics are to booze and smokers are to nicotine.

One night a week, perhaps, when those who wish can relax, slip on the virtual reality headset, and be transported back to the time of their life.

First kiss? First romance? First motorbike? Best holiday?

What a wonderful escape it would be from negative equity, unemployment and paying for Christmas.

A refresher course on how good life can be to put into perspective the troubles of now.

For whatever problems life may throw up, they will be temporary. And, among them will still be good times that we may not recognise when they happen.

The kiss of a grandchild, the unexpected phone call from a son, the joke shared over a pint, the helpful neighbour, the stranger’s smile.

It would be really great to replay some of those golden memories of the past. As long as we don’t forget to appreciate the good bits from today.