The Snug

Throughout my life I've met loads of people. I was quite shy at school because my mum could never find trousers that were quite long enough. That and the fact I was a bit of a spanner.

Anyway, I used to deal with people on a benefit of the doubt system, I assumed that everyone was great until they let me down and proved otherwise. Some would call this naivety, but I'm a fairly easy going chap and it seemed to work.

As I get older though and read the Daily Telegraph more and more, I realise that most people out there fit one of the two extreme stereotypes - they're either stark raving mad Nazi's or wishy washy Guardian reading liberals who would apologise for the Empire whilst being beaten up by a bunch of Jamaican lady boys. (note: this is a good example of hyperbole and should not be taken as fact).

Consequently I've needed to rethink my world view slightly - it no longer works in the 21st century. a world where a motorist can give me abuse because he's driving on the wrong side of the road and I'm not. A world where you're liable to be knifed to death if you ask a child to stop throwing chips at you on a bus. This is not the world of the Knight Rider (although it would be cool if it was, the Hoff is having a most modern ironic resurgence in popularity at the moment after all).

So, without further ado, I present to you the "Alex Passive Dislike Until You Have Proved Yourself Worthy System".

Under this system, you would passively dislike everyone you meet until they do something to prove they are not a cock. It has the advantage of keeping your cards close to your chest as you're not actively disliking them (note: this means you cannot kill family members or burn their house down), whilst giving you the chance to assess whether they are worth the effort to get on with or even actively like.

Already this has proven useful in my daily life, it has allowed me to make sneaky judgements on people without ever exposing myself to the early potential of being hideously let down. This is a good thing.

Try it out yourself for a week or two, I guarantee it will make a difference to your quality of life.