Andy’s tears are a sad lesson to us all
I’D HATE to have to write a CV for a job nowadays – it seems there are so many pitfalls. For a start, my favourite font is Comic Sans.
I’m sorry (I gather I have to apologise for this appalling lack of taste) but I like it. It’s easy to read and unpretentious. But apparently it is the worst font to use if you’re applying for a job. So says James Reed, chairman of employment company Reed who has revealed his ultimate tips for the perfect résumé.
I have sat with my sons for many hours in the past years looking over job applications. What’s wrong with flair?
Lots of exclamation marks and brackets (which I love!!!).
Oooh, and italics.
Reed’s book, The 7 Second CV, says we should come over as an individual yet conform to “the right layout and language that can set you up for instant success”.
Oooh, and don’t tell lies!
IT’S NOT rocket science, and we’ve known for years. Wholegrains are good for us and processed carbs aren’t.
Fibre will help us live longer and healthier yet for years we have simply ignored the advice, and we’ve chosen to go on eating white bread, white pasta and chips when alternatives would be much better, even more tasty.
So say researchers in New Zealand who’ve been seeing how much fibre we really need. And they’ve found it would result in huge health benefits. We already realise it’s known for stopping constipation but its health benefits are much broader.
If you’re confused as to how simple it could be, think two Weetabix, a slice of wholemeal brown bread, cup of lentils, potato with the skin on, a carrot or apple. They say we’ve got to be “carb-clever” and the transition won’t be easy. Really? Just how stupid are we?
DESPITE his millions, highflying lifestyle and the expert team that surrounds him, one sentimental thing Andy Murray dreamed of giving his children was something money can’t buy. He wanted his two daughters to have the precious memory of their dad as a champ, at the top of his game, perhaps at Wimbledon winning another title. He wanted them to have witnessed the vision of their father as Britain’s top sportsman, the best tennis player we’ve ever had, an absolute winner.
Sadly as we now know, he cannot serve that up. The hip injury that has troubled him over the past years has finally defeated him. He said he cannot stand the pain of trying to fight it and would have to have another major operation just to gain a better quality of life. Little things like tying his shoelaces or bending to pick something up, he said, were excruciating. And as we saw his heartbreak announcing his retirement, the tears overcoming him, our hearts broke too.
Do you remember those charming pictures of Roger Federer’s quartet of twins, usually kept well away from the spotlight, watching him at Wimbledon claim his 8th title back in 2017?
Roger and wife Mirka have identical twin daughters, Myla and Charlene, who are nine, and identical twin boys Leo and Lenny, who are four. They almost stole the show from their father, looking hilariously unimpressed and pulling faces throughout his speech.
But Federer didn’t mind. He said: “It’s a wonderful moment for us as a family.”
And as one fan pointed out: “Federer can do it all. Eight Wimbledon titles, 19 Grand Slams and two sets of twins. Is there anything this man cannot do?”
Well, Murray has certainly given him a run for his money. And he must have hoped to keep going at the very top for at least as long as Federer. He must have dreamed, too, of the moment when he’d win the championship, sink to his knees on the Wimbledon turf, look up at the players’ box and see his little daughters beaming with pride.
I guess no matter how successful and lauded you are by society – and let’s not forget that Andy is now a Sir – nothing beats that.
But now, after years of hard graft and a punishing daily schedule – a whole life of almost total discipline – Andy Murray has witnessed how you can indeed achieve anything if you work hard enough but... sometimes fate deals you a cruel blow.
It is enormously sad to see someone as talented as Andy having to contemplate the end of his career not on his own terms and at just 31. You don’t get to be World Number One without making tennis your whole life. He has apparently often told sports reporters he looked forward to playing at Grand Slam level in front of his daughters and clearly now, at just one and two years, they won’t remember for themselves.
But what his girls can be enormously proud of is not just his reputation on the tennis court but the way he has used his fame and position to speak out on women’s rights.
He became the only leading male player to have a female coach, when he employed Amélie Mauresmo. He has also been very outspoken in support of female equality on and off court.
Of course, he and his brother Jamie, a Wimbledon doubles champ, also gave a rebirth to the Scots town of Dunblane after it became sadly synonymous with tragedy. Andy was himself caught up in the 1996 shooting massacre there. A little boy of eight, he had to hide under a desk while a gunman rampaged through his school, killing 16 children and a teacher. His mother Judy was one of the parents who frantically ran to the school when they heard the news.
Well, that town now proudly boasts a gold post box after Andy’s gold medal win in the 2012 Olympics.
That’s when, despite his difficult start on the public relations stage, we started to fall in love with him, realising that his awkward, curt and abrupt manner was more about shyness than belligerence.
The first time we saw him really vent his emotions was on Centre Court that same year, when he lost the Wimbledon IT’S A really horrible thing to be burgled. It goes far beyond the monetary value, or the havoc left behind. It’s the feeling that never leaves you that your home has been desecrated by strangers who also might do you harm. Who also might return. So isn’t it astonishing to find that so many householders, particularly in burglary hotspots, don’t take extra measures to help protect their home, such as window locks, burglar alarms or security cameras?
Henley-in-Arden, near Birmingham, seems the burglary capital of the UK. Now, it is a posh place, with gorgeous homes and pricey cars.
It’s where the rich who work in Birmingham live. So wouldn’t you think they’d be secure?
The MoneySuperMarket survey found 20 per cent of us believe we live in an area where burgary is above the national average yet most do nothing. Let this be a lesson to us all... Final to Roger Federer. In tears, he almost apologised to the crowd.
Then do you remember the next year, when he cried again, this time with tears of joy? I think at that moment he won over even the most hard-hearted of us – although there are still some who moan that he’s a boring speaker and a miserable celebrity.
He protests: “People think I am unemotional because my voice is flat and a bit boring. It is unfortunate but it is just the way it is. I’ve tried to change it but it doesn’t make a difference. The truth is, I have lots of emotions inside.”
We’ve seen them over the years, and we have joined in his joys, too. First his wedding to Kim Sears, then the arrivals of his daughters Sophia and Edie.
“He was a wee boy from a wee part of a wee country who took on and conquered the world,” said a Sky News Scotland correspondent on Friday, with a tremor in his voice.
Well, tomorrow Andy will be playing on the other side of the world, on the first day of the Australian Open. I wonder how far his hip injury will allow him to go?
Perhaps it’s too much to hope he will return to his championship form but let’s hope Billie Jean King is right in her prediction.
She tweeted: “Your greatest impact on the world may be yet to come. Your voice for equality will inspire future generations.”
It won’t help dry his tears right now, but let’s hope she’s right.