Watchers come in all shapes and sizes

THE WAY THINGS ARE

The word ‘watch’ is as versatile as the cliched egg. On Netflix, The Watchers centres on a family new to town who find that people who have lived there for generations don’t like changes around them or made to the old houses newcomers buy. Warning letters advise the newbies they are being watched.

We humans spend time watching each other, and the world around us. We want to watch our weight as we are daily ‘fed’ photoshopped pictures of the rich and famous showing off their sleek, perfect forms and feel guilty about our spare tyres even though we know they probably suffer hunger pangs and pay big dollars to stay in shape.

Politicians and authority figures love to say when protesting, ‘Not on my watch!’.

Enemies place observation posts along borders to watch each other’s movements.

Open a dictionary and see how many ways ‘watch’ can be used. Watchtower, watch man, watch dog, being watchful would indicate we are simply a suspicious-natured species. Watching has a more sinister connotation if linked with Peeping Toms, voyeurs or spies.

Some people like to know other people’s business, so they watch to feed their gossip appetite: ‘Oh, there’s whathisname. He’s lost weight/changed/dyed his hair/his style of clothes. I bet he has a girlfriend his wife doesn’t know about.’

Or the sad watcher, a previously fit person who can’t walk now and sits mostly at her door on fine days to watch the world go by, hoping someone will stop and have a chat. Her health problem compounded by weight gain from comfort food.

Secret services are constantly on the watch whether nationally or abroad trying to keep the homeland safe from real or suspected enemies. We know for sure that even friendly countries spy on each other; we trust each other just so far. Tremors went around certain services in the UK when ex-fighter pilots were encouraged by large salaries to teach Chinese pilots their clever tricks. One commentator said the shelf life of such a pilot is not long, methods and equipment change often, and so much is updated tech these days no real harm done. However, (isn’t there always one!) some are worried about information given innocently or willingly, to a country perceived as possibly unfriendly, that might assist a future enemy to have advanced knowledge of their defence tactics. Some military moustaches bristled above stiff British upper lips about this (not as yet treasonable) employment, but there is debate. China, of course, could say, how do we know the people who come aren’t placed to learn what they can about our systems, our air force, our defences?

Conspiracy theorists not only watch news sources but also scan the internet for clues of possible trails to follow once they believe they have picked up the scent of a good yarn to embroider with their own ideas and pass on. USA watchers ponder the emerging force of partisan politics that, if non acceptance of vote counting once more ensues, could cause serious civil upheaval after the 2024 elections.

Professional sports folk watch fellow athletes (either with envy or disgust) go abroad lured by humongous rewards to take part in events in countries not considered ideal where human rights records are concerned. People on pensions or welfare watch for the arrival of cash into their small bank accounts at the end of every month.

Politicians and ministers from various departments should be forced by law to spend a day watching and partaking in the workload of those for whom their departments are responsible.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry shared his vision of a work-model future of mutual race respect. Years ago, watching William Shatner swagger through the episodes with his multi-ethnic crew, I thought how great that was, not only white faces or one ethnicity among the assorted aliens.

We spend a deal of time watching the stars for the possibility of discovering an alien race. And if we did, how would they view us? A collections of humans who are behaviourally more alien to each other than to any species that might be found ‘out there’. Why do we never learn?