Through the round window

The best part of our recent holiday in the Caribbean? Not the abundant food, free alcohol, or hail-free climate. No, it was the availability of Food Network on our TV. I loved Food Network and had to be pried out of the room on various occasions to partake of fresh air. I must admit that I wished they had replaced the overbearing perkiness of Rachael Ray with the dulcet tones of Norwich's very own "Psycho"Delia, and a little less Emeril (bam!) would also have been nice, but in general it was heaven. Even more than the recipes, I loved the 20-minute segments exploring different foods - popcorn, pancakes, chewing gum etc. They were the perfect combination of manufacturing/science and food.

It occured to me this morning that this love of the production-related documentary is rooted deeply in my childhood. Playschool had one of these each day - you went through the round window, the square window, or (the excitement!) the arched window, and were transported to milk bottle factories or food processing plants. Was this an attempt by the Labour government of the day to get kids interested in manufacturing (or accepting of their fate)? Is this why Thatcher's subsequent decimation of the manufacturing industry in Britain hurt so much? Could this explain why I feel that my job is, essentially, worthless? After all, I produce nothing and Big Ted, Humpty, and the others taught me that only jobs that make things are worth documenting.

Oh Playschool - what psychic damage have you wrought!?