About Me | Writing Challenge | Ten Questions

AJ’s Revealing Answers to Peter’s Ten Questions

Some surprisingly tricky questions lurk in this list!

Inspired by question 2. Photo taken by the author in 2024

Peter Mammitzsch has asked some revealing questions, and I’m here to answer them.

What have I signed myself up for?! 😳

(I know — it’s optional. But that wouldn’t sound as good.)

1. Do you sometimes trust your gut feeling, or do you rely exclusively on the statements of experts?

Given my background in electronics and programming, you might think I mostly apply logic, and trust what the experts say. But that’s not always the case.

My initial gut feeling often turns out to be accurate; I should listen to it more often.

2. When you buy clothes, is the fashionable aspect or the practicality the deciding factor for you?

I’ve rarely bought expensive or fashionable clothes. In my younger years, I mostly bought mid-priced items of reasonable quality, and kept them for years.

These days, I tend to buy cheaper clothing. But after a few washes, they make me look as dishevelled as Columbo. (Perhaps I should try ironing them now and then.)

Having said that, you’d never see me in joggers or tracksuit bottoms (sweatpants). I’m mostly in jeans and a T-shirt, with an extra layer in winter.

3. When you think of sport, does it mean competition and victories or physical fitness?

Apart from my recent Liverpool FC stadium tour, I don’t usually show much interest in sports.

Maybe the first thing I think of is the awful PE teachers I had at school.

[embed]A Cruel High School PE Teacher and an Undiagnosed Autistic ADHD Child My teacher was a bully, so I never enjoyed sportsmessingwithwires.medium.com

Overall, I think of sport more for competition and victories. There are other ways to stay in shape. (When I think of one, I must give it a try.)

4. You watch the news on television. How do you feel afterwards?

I live in England and cancelled my TV Licence a while ago, so I can’t legally watch live or recorded TV. Instead, I’m limited to ‘on demand’ services that are not from the BBC.

Years ago, I would watch the news every night. But in recent years, even when broadcast TV was still available to me, I had already lost interest in TV news unless something exceptional had happened.

5. Have you ever participated in a demonstration? If so, how did you feel?

The only demonstration that I’ve been involved in was showing a potential customer how my employer’s products worked.

I know… that’s not the kind of demo you had in mind.

I take my hat off to those who demonstrate for a cause they believe in. There’s always the chance of being arrested, perhaps due to proximity, even if you haven’t done anything wrong.

6. Would you advise your child or grandchild to pursue a career in the army?

My dad was in WW2, and my eldest son has an interest in military history.

Without the army, I dread to imagine what could happen, and I respect those who are serving (or have served) in it. But I can’t honestly say that I would advise my loved ones to pursue an army career.

After losing my wife to breast cancer, I could not bear it if something happened to my children. There’s also the possibility they could be deployed in situations I don’t agree with.

And, sadly, our veterans do not seem to be treated as well as they should.

7. Are you a passionate fan of a professional sports team?

No, I’ve never been massively into any sport. But I remember collecting football cards that came with chewing gum in the 1970s. (Or was it the other way around?)

8. Your doctor has forbidden you from watching television for six months. Would you have a problem with that?

That pesky doctor!

As mentioned earlier (in #4), I can’t watch live TV anymore. But I would miss being able to watch a handful of shows on streaming services, DVDs, and YouTube.

At the moment, I’m watching The Golden Girls, The Computer Chronicles, and various shows about cars and motorcycles by Henry Cole.

9. Are you afraid of death?

I’m not sure; not really, I suppose.

I want to say I’d be annoyed to die before reaching old age, but there wouldn’t be much I could do about it.

I always worry about those I’d leave behind — as though they could not cope without me.

Although that sounds like ego, it’s more that I know how hard it is to lose people, and I want to be around for as long as possible to look after everyone.

10. What is important to you? Prosperity, success and recognition, or a contented life?

In an attempt to reduce stress and anxiety, I have not followed the most prosperous path.

I didn’t do a higher degree, and I didn’t try to climb the career ladder. Instead, I preferred to remain lower in the organisations I worked for. Managing others has never appealed; I always wanted to be the one doing the work.

(Having said that, for 20 years, I worked for a very small company and reported directly to the owner. There’s a whole series about that place.)

There was once an episode of American Chopper in which Mikey (Michael Teutul) said something along the lines of:

If I could just get by in life, I’d be… ecstatic.

I might be misremembering the details, but his words felt very relatable.

© 2026 AJ. All rights reserved.

Here’s where it all started, with the questions set by Peter:

[embed]10 Questions That Will Reveal More About You What cog in the machine of the world are you?medium.com

[embed]Mid-Knight Falls Publication Guidelines Submission Guidelinesmedium.com