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October — Unwritten Rules
Who Goes First?
Doors, lifts, queues, introductions, narrow pavements. We make tiny decisions about who moves first all day long. Most of the rules are never explained.
This catches me →How Late Is Late?
Five minutes may be nothing in one setting and an insult in another. When does being late become rude, and who gets to decide?
This catches me →The Invisible Personal Space
How close is too close? The acceptable distance between strangers changes with the place, the situation and sometimes the person.
This catches me →Who Pays?
Dinner with friends. A first date. Coffee with a colleague. The bill arrives — and suddenly an unwritten social rule appears on the table.
This catches me →Knowing When to Leave
A good guest knows when to arrive. A very good guest may know when to go. How do we recognise the moment when a visit is over?
This catches me →Nobody Told Me That at Work
Every workplace has rules that never appear in the handbook. How do newcomers discover what really matters, and what happens when they do not?
This catches me →Polite Here, Strange There
Eye contact, tipping, greetings, shoes, silence, small talk. Behaviour that feels perfectly normal in one place can seem surprisingly odd somewhere else.
This catches me →When Breaking the Rule Worked
Not every unwritten rule deserves to survive. Sometimes ignoring the expected way of doing things produces a much better result.
This catches me →November — Small Delights
The Sound That Makes Things Better
Rain on a window. A coffee machine starting. A familiar voice. Some sounds have an unreasonable ability to improve the day.
This catches me →Better Than It Has Any Right to Be
A simple sandwich, cheap chocolate, toast at the right moment. Which ordinary foods somehow deliver far more pleasure than expected?
This catches me →Tiny Luxuries
A heated seat. Fresh sheets. The good pen. Small conveniences can feel remarkably extravagant without costing very much at all.
This catches me →Things Winter Does Better
Soup, heavy coats, dark evenings, warm rooms. Some pleasures only seem to work properly when the temperature drops.
This catches me →The Joy of Cancelling
Plans disappear from the calendar and suddenly the evening belongs to you again. Why can cancelling something feel quite so good?
This catches me →Places That Change Your Mood
A particular café, a bench, a kitchen, a road home. Some places affect us before anything has actually happened there.
This catches me →Satisfying Objects
A knife that cuts properly. A door that closes beautifully. A switch with the right click. Why are some everyday objects simply satisfying to use?
This catches me →The Ordinary Moment Worth Keeping
Not every memorable moment is dramatic. Which small parts of an ordinary day would you protect if you could?
This catches me →December — Things That Should Not Work
Strange Things on the Same Plate
Sweet and salty. Hot and cold. Combinations that sound completely wrong can sometimes taste remarkably right.
This catches me →The Unlikely Pair
Some people appear to have nothing in common and still work brilliantly together. What makes an unexpected partnership succeed?
This catches me →Old Technology, New Job
Paper notebooks beside AI. Vinyl records through modern speakers. Sometimes old and new technologies work better together than either does alone.
This catches me →Serious Work, Silly Ingredient
Humour, toys, games and strange rituals can sometimes improve very serious work. When does playfulness help rather than distract?
This catches me →Borrowed Traditions
Foods, celebrations and habits travel easily. What happens when a tradition from somewhere else becomes part of everyday life?
This catches me →Clashing Styles That Somehow Work
Old furniture in a modern room. Trainers with a suit. Buildings made from completely different periods. Why do some mismatches feel exactly right?
This catches me →Ideas That Escaped Their Own Field
A principle from sport changes a business. Biology inspires engineering. Cooking solves a design problem. Good ideas do not always stay where they started.
This catches me →The Combination That Changed Everything
Sometimes two ordinary things become much more interesting when they meet. Which unexpected combination changed the result for you?
This catches me →Got something you would love to talk about?
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