My failed driving test a few months ago. I got three majors and by the end of it the examiner couldn’t wait to get out of the car.
How close have you come to death?
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I had cancer. I was having a shave and thought: “Are you meant to have a big hard lump on one side of your neck?”
The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 February 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 209 →
Madhur Jaffrey
Actress, cook, and TV host
It’s nearly happened twice, each time after an operation.
Reggie Yates
British actor and media personality
Have you seen my documentaries?
Louis Theroux
British and American journalist and author
I don’t think I’ve ever been close to death but I am a nervous flyer, especially during turbulence, so there have been many times where I’ve felt that I was.
More from Mark Steel
View profile →Younger people being amazed that I know what song they’re listening to.
When I was 16, my dad got drunk at the Oval cricket ground and harangued Sir Garry Sobers, possibly the greatest cricketer of all time, because he didn’t agree with who he’d given as man of the match.
Through a series of mistakes in write-ups, I’d like to be remembered for something like being Britain’s finest downhill skier or inventing pickled onions.
Should talk less.
My kids. I think if you don’t want to say sorry to your kids you’ve been an appalling parent.
At 16, I thought I’d be part of transforming the world into a socialist egalitarian arena of peace and justice. I’m not sure we’ve quite managed it.
More on death & what remains
- What would you like to be remembered for? 214 answers
- What song would you like played at your funeral? 178 answers
- If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid doing? 54 answers
- What happens when we die? 51 answers
- What would you like to leave your children? 44 answers
- How would you like to die? 44 answers
Also answered this
Zandra Rhodes, Joss Stone, Jason Donovan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Shakin' Stevens, Pauline Black
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- All death & what remains questions
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