THE PETERITE Vol. LVII
MAY, 1965
No. 369
EDITORIAL The particular relish of School Holidays for most is quite simply absence of school, and the less interference from holiday work, pedagogues, and editorials, the better. But how should all those weeks be spent? Put in this way, the question seems more suitable for the economist or time-and-motion expert, and one begins to see the holiday spirit washed away by waves of duties and injunctions not to waste one's time. Anyway, the pressures of our civilized society already prod and elbow us too remorselessly; the word 'easy-going' is now a term of reproach rather than praise; and duodenal ulcers are quite respectable. But we want to let the grass grow under our feet a bit; we want—yes : W. H. Davies was quite right: What is life if full of care We have no time to stand and stare? But at least Davies stared with some intensity and to some effect; whereas it is typical of many people to-day that their gaze is empty and vacant. So one's immediate reaction to the word 'holiday' may well be the negative one, release from enforced activity; but we forget that it won't be long before the opportunity for doing things and going places which School holidays afford will soon be greatly restricted in the workaday world of earning a living. The university undergraduate probably realises this more forcefully, but then he is lucky enough to have several months at a stretch for his ingenuity to work on. Moreover it is not merely a question of selfish fun-seeking: there is a real enough value as well in planning and organising an expedition, in camping or urging Youth Hostels, in fending for oneself and others in unfamiliar surroundings, in finding out about oneself and others, in work camps (like those run by TOC H and United Nations Associations), hitchhiking, exchanging with a foreign family, working on a farm, or going on an archaelo gi cal dig. The important thing is that you have taken part in working it out, and you have carried it through. You learn to sift advice, make decisions and take responsibilities and you make unthoughtof discoveries—all of which are less likely if you just stay at home. For a case of especial interest, you are recommended to a letter in the Old Peterite section on page 46. 1
