Catastrophising.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
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.
That I don’t give myself enough credit.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 October 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Jim Kerr
Scottish singer and songwriter
I’ve learned to give myself a break. Everyone should.
Procrastination.
My love of sugar.
More from Shobna Gulati
View profile →When I was younger, I signed up to a job agency and thought I would be doing secretarial work, but they assigned me to clean toilets in a factory in Oldham.
If you’re a mother, you are embarrassing. Is that not just the way?
Nothing. I’m curious how things will evolve.
I tried my best.
Ignorance and unwillingness to learn.
A piece of scenery fell on my head during Richard II at the Globe theatre in 2019. I was very badly hurt.
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Jerry Lewis, Harrison Ford, Sarah Perry, Maureen O'Hara, Tim Peake, Johnny Flynn
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