What should we do when all hope is lost?
Think of it as the last chance to be the openhearted, compassionate person you’ve always wanted to be.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• You are left with faith and charity, so hang in there!
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Stop buying lottery tickets.
Harvey Mitchell, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
• Take inspiration from poets and visionaries such as Martin Luther King, who noted that only in the darkness can you see the stars. Believe in the power of love and work hard at a challenging task, whether mental or physical. These are ways to combat both loss of hope and grief.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• Turn them on, turn them on
Turn on those sad songs
When all hope is gone
Sad songs say so much.
(With apologies to Elton John and Bernie Taupin.)
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• Dream.
Neil Johnson, Birmingham, UK
• Being delusional is a key characteristic of what it means to be human; so hope is never lost even when, in reality, it is.
Stuart Williams, Kampala, Uganda
• Nothing.
Igor Sartori, Oslo, Norway
• One starts springing eternally.
Jennifer Horat, Lengwil, Switzerland
• Relax.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb!
Why is inconsequential chatter or gossip known as rhubarb?
Before the second world war, BBC radio drama productions would use a number of people all saying “rhubarb” in low voices to simulate a background crowd scene: for example, in a pub. The Goon Show, the recordings of which I used to attend at the Camden Theatre on Sunday evenings in the 1960s, revived the technique but used only one or two voices, one of which would be Spike Milligan’s. The effect was hilarious. Those were the days!
Peter Saalmans, Melbourne, Australia
• While some enjoy it, it grows, it spreads, much of it is poisonous, and what isn’t is sour.
Jack Wright, Gairloch, UK
Sickest country of them all
Who benefits from medicine: the patient or the provider?
In my country it is the provider of the drugs who benefits. An alien watching US telly would think this was the sickest country on earth, considering all the drug adverts we are bombarded with on a daily basis.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
It is mainly the patent holder of the medicine prescribed.
Ted Nye, Dunedin, New Zealand
He’s been called much worse
If Hillary Clinton becomes US president, then what should Bill’s title be?
That’s easy: First Laddie.
Rixanne Wehren, Mendocino, California, US
When the cows come home
We all know it rains cats and dogs. Can it ever rain fish and prawns?
If it does, the cats and dogs will eat them.
Terry Sharp, Cheltenham, UK
• Underwater it already does.
Gabor Lovei, Slagelse, Denmark
• Only after the cows come home.
Tijne Schols, The Hague, the Netherlands
Any answers?
What is the best thing since sliced bread?
Felicity Oliver, Ostermundigen, Switzerland
Why is the human species the way it is, and could it be changed?
Burkhard Friedrich, Berlin, Germany
weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
