The Gas Man Cometh

Nu wij Europeanen zoetjesaan Engeland verliezen - geen vrachtwagenchauffeur of verpleegster wil er meer heen, de boeren klagen steen en been - dringt tot me door wat we aan komische tv-series en liedjes aan de Engelsen danken. Van Fawlty towers tot de Kinks, van Dad's army tot Tommy Cooper. Maar ook dat lijkt voorbij. Wat de BBC opdient als grappig is het vaak niet meer. Ik gedenk nu Michael Flanders en Donald Swann, met de tekst van hun lied over de werkman.  Engeland is immers een standenmaatschappij. Werklui zijn lui. Net zoals Herge's meneer Bollemans die een traptree moet komen repareren in kasteel Molensloot. Lower class versus upper class. Labour versus conservarieven.

T'was on the Monday morning, the gas man came to call,

The gas tap wouldn't turn, I wasn't getting gas at all;
He tore out all the skirting boards to try and find the main,
And I had to call a carpenter to put them back again!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do...

T'was on the Tuesday morning, the carpenter came round:
He hammered and he chiseled and he said "Look what I've found!
Your joists are full of dry rot, but I'll put them all to rights!"
Then he nailed right through a cable and out went all the lights!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do...
T'was on a Wednesday morning, the electrician came:
He called me 'Mr. Sanderson', which isn't quite the name;
He couldn't reach the fuse box without standing on the bin,
And his foot went through a window, so I called the glazier in!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do...
T'was on the Thursday morning, the glazier came along
With his blowtorch, and his putty, and his merry glazier's song;
He put another pane in, it took no time at all
But I had to get a painter in to come and paint the wall!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do...
T'was on a Friday morning the painter made a start,
With undercoats and overcoats he painted every part,
Every nook and every cranny; but I found when he was gone
He'd painted over the gas tap and I couldn't turn it on!
Oh, it all makes work for the working man to do...
On Saturday and Sunday they do no work at all;
So it was on the Monday morning that the gas man came to call!
(ook op youtube)