Sidecar Psychology

It has always been the dream of every free-born Englishman to provide everything in the way of comfort, convenience and mobility for his family. Something in this proud father’s expression suggests the dawning realisation that this project may have fatally compromised his amour propre and exposed his loved ones to ridicule. All those hours of concentrated effort cutting cross braces and vertical members and profiling aero-grade plywood were only made bearable by the thought of the advance in status that would follow when he first took to the road in his new sidecar. But already doubts were creeping in with the contemptuous laughter of the village youths. Mr Clarkson’s concern was less for his loyal and unperturbed wife but more for young Jeremy in the back whose confidence and self-esteem was rather fragile at the best of times. Those teacher training lectures in Child Psychology had left Mr Clarkson with an anxious awareness of how easily a child could be damaged by undermining his self-worth. How appalling it would be if sensitive young Jeremy grew up to become a swaggering, self-important bully with a desperate obsession with speed and reckless conduct. Nothing could be worse than that.