The question
Which trait in yourself do you like least?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.
Not finishing things.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗
I find it difficult to sit still.
I had to ask people about this, because I couldn’t think of anything, and the consensus seems to be: a general lack of self-awareness.
The inclination to pretend I read a friend’s book when maybe I didn’t completely finish.
Impatience. I’m not very good at waiting around or dealing with things that aren’t moving at a pace that I want them to.
I was doing The Seagull with Carey Mulligan and Kristin Scott Thomas on Broadway. I walked out on stage and looked at Carey and said: “I’ve no idea what to say.” It was pretty deep into the run and it took me by surprise.
Every woman I dated before I met my wife, because I think I convinced too many people that they were the one, and they were not the one.
Caddying for really rich people at this country club in Connecticut when I was a teenager. They would talk like I wasn’t there so I would hear all about their lives, their affairs and their stupidity, and yet I couldn’t say anything.
It would improve the quality of all of our lives if we just got rid of all unessential vehicles in New York City.
Losing my mind.
Stimulating in every way.
Alice Waters, Lee Child, Andrea Martin, Charlie Higson, Mark Steel, Jon Sopel
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