I go in every day to the office. I don't accomplish hardly anything. I mean, in terms of – it just takes me way longer to do things. And Greg is so good. It was kind of embarrassing how good he is, because he has covered – you know, we've got about 200 businesses within Berkshire, you know, that came about, and I can't name the manager's names or their wives names, or – and I haven't seen them, you know, in a long time. It's easier just to write the letter once a year and kind of do my own thing. Greg covers more ground in a day than I would in a week, even when I was at my peak, let alone my present condition.
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A newer fixed question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 October 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 69 →Every time I play tennis I come back with a fresh injury.
Losing my eyesight – I live for the view, and the sunset and the sunrise.
Not feeling old but everyone treating you that way.
More from David Ajala
View profile →Helen Mirren was in the elevator with me at the National Theatre. She pressed the button but it didn’t move. I said, “Fancy seeing you here and being stuck in an elevator.” And she said, “Was that meant to be funny?” I apologised, and she laughed. Even talking about it now, it feels so awkward and embarrassing.
Curious, playful and silly.
Telesales – having to sell terrible kitchens. I thought, maybe I’m not a good actor because I can’t even convince myself that these kitchens are worth paying for.
To a resistant materials teacher at secondary school called Mr Noel. He had a comb-over and whenever he turned his back to write on the blackboard, we would roll up bits of paper and launch them at his head. Once, I hit him. I remember him turning around and looking crestfallen.
When I was naive to the complexities of life.
Finding a tenner in your jeans pocket. It has always been there but you find it at the moment you really need it.
More on time & hindsight
- When were you happiest? 585 answers
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 151 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 91 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 37 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 26 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 25 answers
Also answered this
Johannes Radebe, Róisín Murphy, Helen Skelton, Tamsin Greig, Dervla Kirwan, Neil Gaiman
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject