Online forms

I’m writing this entry from my death bed. I’ve got some sort of disease which makes me ache all over, has given me a headache and is making my nose generate untold amounts of gunk. I’m informed by a female friend that I have a cold, but there’s no way that can be true. At the very least I’ve got flu, although I suspect it’s bubonic plague, or maybe pneumonic plague, I never can remember which is which.

(Microsoft Word has just informed me that the ‘it’s’ in the previous sentence is grammatically incorrect and should be an ‘its’ – hmmm, I think not, I think I know how to construct a coherent sentence thank you very much).

Damn, I’ve (or should that be Ive) forgotten what the topic of this entry was meant to be now. Oh yeah, online forms.

We’ve all filled in online forms, and if it’s for something worthwhile the chances are you’ll be asked for your occupation, and given a long list of professions to choose from. Generally you get options such as IT professional, office worker, banker etc. Usually there’s nothing that resembles my actual job so I tend to choose something generic that sounds about right. I got thinking though, if I’m struggling to choose an occupation, what happens to people who have a really specific job. For example, I’ve never seen an option for Prime Minister. What the hell is Tony supposed to do?

Does he choose civil servant and think “that’s close enough” or does he think “I run the bloody country, the least I can do is boast about it a little”? After all, he may be the Prime Minister but he still needs car insurance and an Amex card…

I really do need to get out more…