MMM’s Lifestyle Theory Consultant asks which is more important – the tool or the job
In an unusual fit of objectivity I’ll get straight to the point. The ‘tool’ referred to above is, of course, the motorcaravan, and the ‘job’ is the task it is designed to perform.
Originally, I was going to refer to this task simply as ‘travelling’ but, unexpectedly, this particular certainty crumbled as the thought train meandered its way through some muddy waters.
Perhaps I started from the wrong place. Bedecked in my best bifocals, I was casually dipping in and out of MMM during the adverts in a rerun of Foyle’s War on the telly.
What a wonderful, gentle, nostalgic, and humbly righteous entertainment series that programmes is. As a result of this affection, soonish, we will spend a full week in Hastings seeking out some of the locations. We’ve been saying this for years.
All this is incidental, though, and the only reason I mention it is that the ads for these repeats channels go on forever. Thus making it essential to equip yourself with an MMM and a pair of bifocals beforehand. During one of these endless ad breaks, I happened upon a piece in the MMM Tech section by a serial DIYer doing a bit of a job on a motorhome, and which also referred to the ’van by a pet name.
If there is anything anywhere, in the whole of creation that can get my goat going very quickly, it is the bestowing of names on inanimate lumps of non-organic substances. This resulted in me having a small bout of shouting at the magazine, “It’s just a lump of metal for god’s sake. It’s a tool. You don’t give your spanners names, do you?” Not that anyone knows what a spanner is nowadays.
So, it was while watching TV this thought train started. With the next thought being that perhaps some MMM readers may be just as interested in the machinery, than what it is designed to do. For your soul, whatever that may be. Getting mildly waylaid for a moment, can anyone tell me why they would read a motorhome ‘test’ if they aren’t looking for a fresh adventure wagon?
One thought leads to another (thankfully) and I can recall a conversation I had with a bloke called John Hunt. He was the man responsible for creating MMM, and he actually ‘coughed’ to the fact that he was more interested in the idea of the motorcaravan itself than the travel.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was more intrigued with the nitty gritty of what makes things work, the design and the concept of drivi
