Bad timekeeping.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
My inability to say no.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 July 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 242 →Conflict aversion.
I overthink everything.
Oversharing my personal life, but here we are, oversharing!
More from Frank Cottrell-Boyce
View profile →That it’s impossible to persuade other people of the value of the lessons that life has taught you.
So many. All childcarers and most primary teachers.
I once found myself chatting to a big handsome bloke at a party in Oslo. I said, “And what do you do?” “Well,” he said, “I am the king.” Being a great wordsmith, I zinged back, “Oh. Errm. Cool.”
The unguiltiest pleasure.
I spent an advent in my late teens throttling turkeys.
I took the whole family to live in the Basque Country for a year. My children and I have a hereditary blood condition so I took out a health insurance policy. I’m still furious that none of us so much as stubbed a toe.
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Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Adele Parks, Adrian Dunbar, Al Franken, Alex Hassell
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