This was the task we set ourselves last Wednesday night at the pub. It ‘s a scene setter for our next 6 weeks theme – Living More Simply. Taking my inspiration from the world cup refs, I got to chuck out anything I thought was too general (as in ‘culture and art’- sorry Colin)  or just verging on the pretentious….and red cards would be distributed for swearing… ( I know this sounds very undemocratic, but what a sense of power!)

In pre-pub discussions with P, I was quite relieved to know he wouldn’t be able to make it -top of his list?? – moist toilet tissue…honestly, how superficial can you get?  Disappointingly, my fellow Third Space buddies had no problem with such wordly matters, – knickers, underpants and toilet paper featured high on the essential lists of quite a few of us.

Discussion ( a polite names for arguments) ranged around whether a laptop was one ‘thing’ , why it just wasn’t possible to live without a car and whether some of us really could start a fire by rubbing sticks together…

After much debate, we (kind of ) agreed on the following 5 corporate things we just couldn’t so without

matches (just in case the stick rubbing doesn’t work)

books

music

land ( a garden to you and me)

sanitation ( but you’ll have to use your left hand- the toilet paper didn’t make it)

I suppose we did descend into post -apocalyptic living a bit, (or post rapture, depending on your theology) but it was an interesting exercise, and harder than you think, and as I’m the ref, I’m cunningly going to hide my mascara in the box of matches.

Let us know what your 5 are.