As I wake up to the pound crashing, my definition of the worst thing that could happen just gets wider, writes Zoe Williams
As I wake up to the pound crashing, my definition of the worst thing that could happen just gets widerPhotograph: Dylan Martinez/ReutersPhotograph: Dylan Martinez/Reutersonday is Mr Z’s birthday, and before I had even spread happy wishes upon it, I was catastrophising about the sterling crisis. He said to look on the bright side: at least our livelihoods didn’t rely on the import of hops, and I pointed out that all.
But the parameters of “the worst that could happen” have expanded significantly. It’s as if you’ve spent 30 years watching EastEnders, you think you’ve made a full scope of possible negative events and suddenly it’s turned into Breaking Bad. Getting into a fight with a cousin over a love child and a modest bequest is no longer the hard limit of disaster. Now someone might decapitate you and graft your head on to a tortoise.
Generation Z don’t listen to us: they think the world is like the internet or a smartphone, a thing moving much faster than old people realise. And still we keep talking, because we’re not really talking to them, we’re trying to self-soothe, so it doesn’t really matter whether they’re listening or not.