IT was a day for solemn reflection yesterday.
But a reader cheers us up by telling us: "A young girl rushed out of school on the south side of Glasgow last week, full of excitement. 'Mum! Mum! If we bring in some pennies tomorrow we can get a puppy!'
"Not wishing to squash her daughter's enthusiasm, the mother nonetheless replied: 'A poppy darling'."
Older than you think
AMONG those collecting donations for the Poppy Appeal last week were some green-bereted Royal Marines veterans at the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre in Glasgow, where one old timer told a woman who asked that he was 79-years-old.
When she had left, his collecting friend challenged him: "John - you won't be 79 for another nine months."
"I'm counting from conception," he replied
Piping up
THE best laid schemes ... as Norrie Rowan tells us: "After travelling all the way to Cayman Islands for a Sevens rugby tournament, which they won, Rugby Ecosse took with them at great expense a piper - only to be greeted at their hotel, by the manager, Tom, a bagpipe player from Ayr."
Back to the belt
TIME to coil up our school belt stories and put them back in the desk, but not before Roderick Slater in Edinburgh recollects: "In the 1970s there was a large and immensely imposing Modern Languages teacher, a veteran of Arnhem, in a school in the east of Edinburgh who so frequently resorted to the belt that he was nicknamed Big Ben by the pupils.
"Why? Because he struck on the hour, every hour."
Game for a laugh
MIXED reaction to the stage show of comedy series Still Game being shown on television, with many fans saying it didn't recreate the richness of the actual live performance.
Bearing in mind the criticsm that the BBC came in for over alleged bias during the referendum campaign, Stephen Graham explained: "The BBC edited Still Game, knowing it was written by Yes supporters, to make it look rubbish."
Plugged in
THE MTV pop music awards took place in Glasgow last night.
A colleague of a young woman in London who was attending the jamboree swears to us she asked before flying up: "Plugs are the same in Scotland, right?"
Popping up
ONE of the singers expected to win an award was Beyonce.
A reader tells us the tale of a chap declaring: "I love Beyoncé." "Whatever floats your boat," his pal replied. "No," said the first chap. "That's buoyancy."
Money talks
MEANWHILE in Cumbernauld, writer Deedee Cuddihy was speaking in the local theatre about her book Scottish Superstitions.
Says Deedee: "On asking the group if they had something they considered a 'lucky charm', that they carried with them at all times, and would feel bad if they lost, one sceptic called out, 'Aye - my wallet!'
Pub quiz
A COLLEAGUE wanders over to interrupt us with: "Made a staggering discovery the other day.
"You get home from the pub a lot slower that way."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article