The Guardian Weekly

NOTES & QUERIES

It’s the little things that go a long way

How do I become an influencer?

Hold the door for the next person, let a waiting car into the line of traffic, smile and say: “Thank you.” Little things go a long way to influence our unhappy world.

Doreen Forney Pownal, Vermont, US

• Start not to care about the impact that your prejudices and behaviour may have on others. Charlie Bamforth Davis, California, US

• It is a three-step process. Step 1: develop an enormous self-indulgent ego. Step 2: see step 1. Step 3: see step 2.

John Watts Gloucester, NSW, Australia

• First, give up any pretence of a real job. Lawrie Bradly Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia

If dummies could talk ... What would you imagine mannequins in a shop window saying as you walked past?

No imagination necessary. Just read Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun. Maria-Elisabeth Linke Munich, Germany

• Too much flesh for my liking.

Patricia Arundel Tasque, France

• And we’re the dummies? Eric Bréchemier Compiègne, France

When heads went bare When and why did men stop wearing hats?

Here in Australia men still wear hats mostly for sun protection. The styles have changed with fewer corks dangling to shake off the flies.

Margaret Wilkes Cottesloe, Western Australia

• The Hat Research Foundation (HRF) found that 19% of men in 1947 who didn’t wear hats said it was because they triggered the trauma of war associated with their uniforms. ufs1968 via theguardian.com

• Men stopped wearing hats when bus and train seats were given headrests, so making hat wearing impossible when travelling.

Martin Bryan Gloucester, England, UK

Any answers?

Why does the sound of running water make us want to pee?

David Cockayne Lymm, England, UK

When and how did the Spanish flu pandemic “end”?

James Forrester Amstelveen, Netherlands

Diversions

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2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://theguardianweekly.pressreader.com/article/282544431431560

Guardian/Observer