Bit part actors of our lives, stand up and take a bow

So, with still 6 weeks to go, Oscar fever is upon us. Whilst I might think the two people there on the night most deserving of an accolade are the ones presenting it, there will be the inevitable sobbers and smugsies. There will be some talented actors there. And there are several things we should be thankful for – most obviously the fact that Ricky Gervais’ face won’t, hopefully, fill our screens for any more than a few minutes of the evening.

The nominations are a mixed bunch. There’s Morgan Freeman, who has spent his entire career pushing himself ever further and breaking boundaries in his new role. And then there’s Colin Firth, who as far as I can see has spent his entire life playing a public school graduate from Buckinghamshire regardless of the demands of the roles he is cast in.

But our lives are full of bit-part actors. They roll in and out of our lives. Entering stage left, exiting stage right.

These are the people we see on a daily, weekly, occasional basis for whom we don’t know names. The people who in a movie scour the credits whilst everyone’s leaving the cinema looking for ‘bank guy number 7’ or ‘shopper with canteloupe’.

We all have them.

We pretend we don’t, but they’re everywhere.

For example, my house overlooks Mondeo man. A few houses away there’s ‘drummer boy’ and ‘drummer boy mum and dad’. On Sundays I tend to see ‘fluffy dog lady’ whilst washing the car. If I buy bread there’s ‘handlebar moustache chap’. The list goes on.

I know to some it seems strange, but stop and think about it. You get home, and you’re telling your beloved about your trip to the greengrocers and you say, ‘oh I bumped into…’. What do you say? ‘That chap who, now don’t think I’m a snoop, but lives at number such-and-such and puts his bin out a day early?’… No, you don’t. You pick a characteristic. A characateur. It’s not rude. It’s not disrespectful (unless you want it to be). It’s just, you know, they’re not a main character in the movie of your life. They won’t be getting an Oscar for their part in your life when you arrive at the pearly gates. They’ll be scouring the credits of your life to see if they’re listed at the end. In the smallest font. After the grips and technicians. After the movie theme tune has finished and the cheap stock-muzak has started and we head towards the technicolor(tm) logo.

So, bit part actors of our lives, stand up and take a bow.