Of course, I still recognise that McCall Smith makes many interesting observations along the way in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. On the question of apparently unambitious men he says this (Tea Time, p.150):
‘You only thnk so, Mma? Have you not asked him?’
Mma Tafa sighed. ‘Not all men know what they want to do, Mma. Many of them say they are quite happy doing what they are doing, and do not know what they really want to do… underneath. You know what I mean, Mma?
‘I think I do’, said Mma Ramotswe.
‘So it is the job of women – and that means you and me, Mma – to find out what husbands really want to do, and then to tell them about it. That is our job, I think, Mma.’
I have been reflecting on motivation and decision-making rather a lot in the last few weeks. It's a complex business the more one thinks on this. House-buying, moving overseas, you name it, discerning God's will in all this (what a loaded phrase).
