war horse

This weekend I'm doing something a bit different.

Basically, the company I work for is marking its 20th anniversary this year, so the boss is kindly treating us all to a special treat. Ideas for this treat ere floated early in the year and there were a lot of suggestions from the sublime to the ridiculous. We all then got a vote on what we'd want to do and the winner was.. (drum roll)... a trip to the theatre!

Well, actually, dinner and then a trip to see "a show" up in that there London, but the show in question is a theatrical show, rather than a musical or something like that. In fact, the show is called "War Horse" and is literally about exactly that - a Horse in the first world war.

To be brutally frank the theatre is not my bag. I have enough trouble sitting in the cinema for extended periods of time (my arse goes numb and the combination of my weight and height tends to make the seating generally uncomfortable) so the idea of a three hour trip to the theatre is not necessarily up there at the top of my list. However, I'm guessing it's three hours because there'll be an intermission, so maybe I'll get a chance to have a stretch.

Also, if I'm totally honest the idea of spending quite so long with the people I work with at the weekend also isn't to far up my list. Especially since it was declared to basically be a "bring your partner" type event and I don't got one of those. Plus we've apparently had some drop-outs and some other people have been invited and I don't know them.

Is it normal that I do this, I wonder?

By 'this' I mean pre-list all of the potential negatives and reasons I might not like it. I sometimes wonder if normal people don't look forward to this sort of thing more. I mean, I don't know if it's a reflection of, as I say, the specific point that I don't really want to go to the theatre (if it was something I was keen on I'd have been more than twice before in my life, surely?) or if it's a more general pre-emption of a lack of enjoyment?

Basically, when I went to see my dad the other week he was talking to me about this new treatment he's on. Basically, my dad suffers from depression and he's been on this trial course where they basically try to altar his perceptions.

You see, one of the things with my dad is that he always focuses on the negative. It's actually one of the reasons I don't really enjoy being around him, because anything that comes up he will look at from a pessimistic, cynical or negative point of view. News is one of the worst things - I'll always attempt to change the channel is news comes on the TV, because rather than just watch it, it'll spark some rant or the voicing of some pessimistic viewpoint.

The point being for him, that because everything is always bad it has a reinforcing effect on his negative viewpoint.

And I'm wondering if maybe I do the same thing? I don't think so - my view on things isn't always negative like my dad.

Wow - that became weirdly analytical!

I guess I'll find out if this War Horse thing is any good on Saturday! Who knows, maybe I'll become a West End regular.