Why does professional sport attract so many spectators?
It’s always a rush to live vicariously, in sport or when battling imaginary foes, especially if there’s a chance you’re on the winning side.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• A compulsion to manifest togetherness, shared by lemmings, ants and starlings, among others.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• It gives us lots to talk about afterwards.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• Those who can, do; those who can’t, watch.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• For people like me whose favourite spectator sport is politics, I can only put it down to masochism.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
Stand up and be counted
Facebook aside, how many friends do you have?
You’ll be able to count them at my funeral.
Erik Oostra, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia
• Judging by the increase in visits to hospital wards, care homes and funeral parlours recently, they are in danger of becoming an extinct species.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
• True friends can be counted on – not counted up.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• We have quite a number of very good friends. What is Facebook?
Derek Malpass, Hohenthann, Germany
Just wait: it will come to me!
What’s the best thing about growing old?
Getting ever closer to the heart of things that matter.
Nicholas Albrecht, Paris, France
• Having so many lovely young relations.
Maureen Heath, Winchester, UK
• Losing the yoke of “have to”.
Kees van Aert, Hilvarenbeek, The Netherlands
• I can lie doggo in the afternoon.
R M Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• Being able to say whatever you like to people, because they don’t listen to you anyway.
Paul Wentworth, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
• Not noticing it!
James Rogers, Wuppertal, Germany
• Having lived life to the full.
John Anderson, Pukekohe, New Zealand
• Seeing how everyone turns out.
Tremaine Arkley, Independence, Oregon, US
• I’m thinking ... I’m still thinking ...
Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Postponing the alternative.
William de Bruyn, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
• I thought of a really good one yesterday.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Just trying to get home
What if God was one of us?
This is the refrain to One of Us, sung by US singer Joan Osborne: “What if God was one of us / Just a slob like one of us / Just a stranger on the bus / Trying to make his way home?”
Greg DePaco, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Any answers?
Does cynicism serve any worthwhile purpose?
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
Where can one find the line between innocence and ignorance?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
