Opinion: In Defence of the Uninspiring — Some of Us Like a Plain Swing
Loch Leven's play area has been called 'uninspiring'. Our columnist says that's exactly what a tired parent wants.
A swing: not inspiring, simply excellent. Photo: Basile Morin, “Wooden bench swing and wicker hammocks on a bamboo footbridge in paddy fields a sunny day during the monsoon, Vang Vieng, Laos”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
When I heard that Loch Leven’s play area had been described as “uninspiring”, I felt personally attacked, because I too am uninspiring, and I am very good at my job.
Inspiring things are exhausting. An inspiring play area has a 40-foot rope pyramid that your child will climb to the top of and then refuse to come down from. An uninspiring play area has a swing. You push. They go. Everyone knows where they stand.
I’m sure the new nature trail will be lovely. There will be logs and bug hotels and boards explaining the geese. Children will learn things. And I will spend forty minutes saying “don’t lick that”.
So let us pause to honour the uninspiring things in life: the plain digestive, the 10 o’clock bus that comes at 10 o’clock, the dependable aunt who sends a card with a tenner in it every year.
They don’t inspire. They just work. Which is more than some flumes I could mention.
The real story: Loch Leven play area plans (The Courier)
Letters to the Editor
The views expressed are those of the reader, and frankly that's on them.
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As an uninspiring person I have never felt so seen.
— Gail S., Kinross, 30 October 2026 -
Don’t lick that. Forty minutes. Every visit. Every child. Accurate.
— Andy C., Milnathort, 30 October 2026
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