Friday, December 25, 2015

Goodwill and Gifts for travellers

I clicked on a BBC analysis of when Jesus was born. I was very impressed by the way the animation presented the 'facts'. They had 'theory one' and 'theory two'. In the past I have often read of different or conflicting theories. This gives the readers a confusing choice. Worse still, the prospers of these theories often attack each other. History or any kind of enquiry takes you into a battlefield. How much better to present it as a choice. If you don't like one theory, and remain unconvinced, don't worry, here's another possibility.

Similarly, academic papers are often submitted in a style attacking other authors and get rejected. Reviewer Trevor Sharot writes advice on how the writer could re-submit a paper to make it more acceptable. 'How to ender yourself to your readers. Some of whom could have written the papers which you are attacking.'  The rule is simple. Speak well of all.

The same applies to travelling. You can start with a compliment or thanks to the taxi driver. 'What a lovely clean car you have.' 'I'm so glad you saw me.' 'What a lovely sunny day.' 'I expect the rain brings you more customers.'

The greatest gift is goodwill.
Merry Christmas. Season's Greetings.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

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