People taking themselves seriously.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Laziness, lack of empathy, lack of humour.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 197 →Bad personal hygiene.
Eleanor Tomlinson
English actress
Narcissism. And people coughing on me in public.
Clive Myrie
British journalist, newsreader, and presenter
Cruelty, bullying, selfishness.
More from Sarah Hadland
View profile →Years ago, I was trying to get with one of the big agencies and I cobbled together a VHS tape of me in adverts and sobbing in The Bill, and took it United Agents for the attention of Dallas Smith. A week later I went back and said, “Has she looked at the tape?” And they were, like, “Dallas is a he, no he hasn’t and he doesn’t want to,” and handed it back to me.
Lemn Sissay. What happened to him and what he’s done with his life is extraordinary.
“You’ll never, ever work.” When you are young and full of hopes and dreams it’s devastating. I am just grateful that I thought: “Well, I’m going to try.”
If there could be a double of me to look after my child when I’m working.
Speedy, bossy, loving.
A missionary in Africa – I think that was Sunday school-based.
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