I spent my childhood in the late 70s and early 80s. My mam, dad, and us 4 children lived in a terraced house in a north east mining village. Although we had an amazing loving upbringing, at times things were financially tough.
Getting chocolate or any confectionary was a real treat. More scarce in fact, than muffin the mules horse shit. This post is a story about how I got a somewhat sour experience, from the sweet treat of the Tunnock’s chocolate snowball.
Tunnock’s chocolate snowball. Where does one start with this bad boy. An individually wrapped decadent treat without rival. Marshmallow smothered in chocolate and coconut, that would get Willy Wonka and his ooompah loompahs choking on their everlasting gobstoppers.
Please understand, this was not a penguin or a blue riband. This was the business. I had my beady eye on them for the last 48 hours, as a full packet sat teasing me in the bottom shelf of the fridge. My money was on getting my molars into gear after church on Saturday night. I vowed to blast out Kumbaya like Pavarotti in a kebab shop, to seal the deal.
Someone’s starving Lord, Kumbaya
Chocolate Snowball Lord, Kumbaya
Decades later, when the Black Eyed Peas wrote the hit ‘I gotta feeling’ they surely had this night in mind.
We all settled down after tea to watch TV. After a while, Dad left his armchair and walked to the fridge to get the chocolate snowballs. Like a budding Nostradamus, I had called this to perfection.
He then preceded to hand everyone a snowball one by one. By everyone, I mean everyone but me!
My recollection of the following few minutes is somewhat blurred. Dad started unwrapping the packaging on his treat and making repeated ‘mmmmmm, delicious’ comments, as I sat frozen to my chair.
This was followed by him asking my salivating siblings their opinion! He received a chorus of relentless approval.
Dad then looked at me straight in the eye and said ‘Everything ok son?’
I had reached my elastic limit, as anger welled up inside me. God had called me to act – Like a wedding on EastEnders, it was time to Speak now or forever hold my peace…
I blurted out ‘Its not fair….’
A eerie silence descended the room. Dad picked the final bits of coconut out of he teeth, sat back in his chair and said calmly….
And that was pretty much the end of it. I sulked in the corner a bit, watched the end of the popular quiz show 3..2..1 and went to bed.
The sun rose the next day, I got up a bit peckish, but relieved to still be alive.
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So what’s the point of all this?
We go through life sometimes getting more than we deserve, and sometimes less than we expect.
Like every other human on planet earth, there have been many times when I have not got what I thought I deserved and the Devil on my shoulder has encouraged me to play the victim.
Every time I feel I have not got the rub of the green, I think back to the chocolate snowball as a coping mechanism to remain resilient and crack the f&#k on.
When you accept life is not fair, life actually becomes more straightforward. So remember…
- Life’s not fair…. Get over it!
- Life goes on… Get on with it!
A few years ago, Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates gave a speech to a bunch of college students in Seattle, detailing 10 rules for life…
Look at Rule 1. Turns out my old Dad was a visionary, way ahead of his time…
