How many?

The Beloved had a computer job to do today, at someone's house. She's a regular, I guess you could say, and I've met her. So, when he came home I asked how much extra he had charged her for talking politics to him all morning.

He told me they had talked about the Netherlands a bit. She had asked him: 'Isn't that a socialist country?'

The Beloved explained about our Queen and our parliament. But, as things go with people that only hear what they want to hear, it didn't really register. What she wanted to know (and what has been going around my head all day) was:
How many freedoms to they have?

The Beloved was a bit confuzzled (but later said he should have told her: 12. Or 42.) She asked: 'Do they have freedom of speech?'

I had been shaking my head the entire time he was telling me all this but at this point I could not help but roll my eyes and sigh exasperated.

(I deleted a bit here, before submitting. I'm not afraid to voice my opinion, even if it could be considered controversial but I don't think this is the place to do it. So, I'll just be as excellent as I can be :))

I can deal with people not knowing; when I first moved here someone asked me if everyone in Europe lives in a castle. I thought that was rather fun :)
Spreading false information, however, is a crime in my opinion, whether it's about a country, a person or anything else. And I know it's only a small group of people (and assorted media) who do this, but it's MY country they are doing this to.

I guess it's a good thing I don't come along on jobs ;)


This sign we found driving around some backroads seemed fitting.