16th August:

Society's collective notion of justice is a curious thing.

A nice wee woman from East Kilbride (near Glasgow) who has had a tough life and barely has 2 pennies to rub together wins £34.5 million in the Euro-millions lottery last weekend and everybody goes "awwwww" with approval. And yet there was many a critical tabloid-column-inch devoted years ago to the first winner of the "Who wants to be a millionaire" TV quiz show who, it later turned out, was a cousin of Camilla Parker-Bowles and was already relatively financially comfortable at the time of her win. The suggestion being, one assumes, that she somehow merited her million pound cheque less because she had come from a privileged background.

The irony here is that people with experience of having a little bit of money are often better equipped to deal with having a lot compared to those people who have never really had any. If that makes sense. Money brings choices and sometimes people who have never really had choices in their lives find the experience overwhelming. A recent BBC television programme followed a group of people who had won the lottery and tried to conclude if they were happier than they had been before their big win. The programme made for very uncomfortable viewing - many of the lottery winners were from working class backgrounds and declared that their new financial situation had only served to alienate them from their friends and families. One couple from the East end of Glasgow felt so bewildered by their sudden wealth that they didn't know what to do and ended up buying a fully decorated and furnished show home in the posh West end of the city. They couldn't handle all the choices. Twice a week, the mother of the family took a taxi over to the East end and went to the local Bingo hall with those friends who still spoke to her. She clearly felt like a fish out of water - neither posh enough to be accepted by her new neighbours nor still working-class enough to be considered the same person by her previous neighbours. Depression, isolation and a loss of sense of purpose were, tragically, clear themes that emerged throughout the programme.

Some of the most interesting people that I have met in life are equally at home in a tuxedo or a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Of course, in order to be comfortable in both, you need to have had experience of both. The trick is probably not to value one more than the other.

As someone older and much more famous than me once said, "enjoy the days when you don't have money in your pocket just as much as the days when you do, and never assume that either will last forever".