SEEING RED: We aren't very Bright, are we?

Our inability to use a filling station forecourt correctly and the intelligence levels of people who appear on television quiz shows.

They are both major factors, in my humble opinion, which leave me dreading the next few decades.

It’s already proven that we’re pretty useless at the ballot box, but we’re taking idiocy to the next level when it comes to people making a show of themselves - especially on TV.

Now it would be deeply unfair of me to use the performance of TOWIE’s Lydia Bright - or Dim as she’s referred to by one national radio presenter - as an example of Britain’s modern day dumbness, but I will anyway.

She appeared on an episode of Celebrity Mastermind - not sure how she qualifies as a celeb, but that’s a story for another day - and somehow failed to answer most questions on her specialist subject and thought the Pacific Ocean separated dear old Blighty and Norway.

She also said hydrangeas rather than hops were used to make beer.

But it’s not just Ms Bright of Essex whose IQ levels take a battering before the cameras, it’s Joe Public too.

The very same Joe Public expected to guide us in the right direction in the next few years. It’s difficult to believe, but some gameshow contestants make Ms Bright look like Albert Einstein.

Here’s some classics from recent times on TV and radio.

- Tipping Point - “What day is Christmas Day traditionally celebrated in the UK?”

Contestant: “Wednesday.”

- Pointless - “Who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas?”

Contestant: “JR (Ewing).”

- BBC Radio Merseyside - “What was Hitler’s first name?”

Contestant: “Heil.”

Of course, these are the very same people who sit in their cars queuing on filling station forecourts when there are a plethora of pumps available.

I see it most days and it never ceases to amaze how stupid people can be.

Most, if not all, garages have hoses which are long enough to reach the other side of a vehicle - while some supermarkets even carry signs saying ‘extra long hoses’.

But despite this, some motorists still can’t read and sit there queuing while the rest of us with a brain go about our business as normal.

So, therefore, you won’t be surprised to hear that when politicians use the phrase ‘the people have spoken’, a shiver goes down my aching spine and leaves me not knowing whether to laugh or cry - very often the latter.

Because if we can’t do the simple things in life, how the hell are we expected to make bold decisions to drive our country forward?

- Fair play to our athletes who have won medals at the Winter Olympics.

Their success is even more remarkable considering we’re a country which grinds to a halt when a few snowflakes fall from the sky and our trains are cancelled due to the ‘wrong snow’.