THE STRANGER IN YOUR HOUSE!
On page 28, we ask if you’ve discovered in lockdown that your significant other is a different person? Not in the physical sense – we’re sure you’d have noticed that – but in the sense that their interaction with other people brings out a different side to them. We’re all used to seeing our partners in home situations and wtih our friends and family, where you get to see their personality traits and get a good idea of who they are. But then they go to work and – perhaps – become another person entirely. Until now, we’ve never known. And possibly never would have found out, But with so many of us now working alongside each other at home, the veil has been lifted. My boyfriend is usually very calm and never raises his voice but I’ve certainly heard him shout on more than one occasion over the last few months. I can also tell immediately when he’s talking to a woman on the phone as he goes straight into flirt mode. I can’t even be mad because it’s a trick I’ve used for years myself! One friend has told me how she didn’t realise how little work her husband does – he’s on constant breaks and watches TV for almost half his shift while ‘waiting’ for more work to come in. Another said her husband, usually very vocal at home, contributes very, very little to office Zoom calls, telling her they ‘don’t listen to me anyway’. It’s funny how you can think you know someone but when you see them in an alternative setting, they’re totally different. I often get slagged for my accent when I’m on TV, that I dont’ sound quite like my Northside Dublin self when I appear, but it’s like your ‘posh voice’ for the phone, it just happens, it’s not something I even realise I’m doing. I’m afraid to ask my boyfriend what he’s noticed about me inthe house – I might be better off not knowing!
On page 30 we look back at the life of Princess Anne, as she approaches her 70th birthday. She’s always struck me as one of the cooler royals, the one you’d like to sit and have a pint with. Her daughter Zara too. I guess when you don’t have the inevitability of the throne hanging over your head, then it’s much easier to relax and not worry so much about playing by the rules. I’ve a feeling Prince William and Kate Middleton would love to let their hair down a little more in life, but with his name on the crown at a point in the future, it’s not something they can really do. Wills’ dad dancing doesn’t count!
Enjoy the issue.