The chair man
FEW people are based in offices nowadays. White-collar workers prefer to lounge at home with buttocks on sofa, plate of Kit Kats on lap, TV remote control in hand and telly on Netflix.
In some distant corner of the room lurks a laptop, too, which is occasionally glanced at, in between episodes of Better Call Saul.
But once upon a time, before the jimjam generation rose to ascendency, men and women journeyed into town to sit behind desks and do something called work.
They even had heaps of paper on their desks, which we’re reminiscing about.
“A boss I worked for had four piles of correspondence,” recalls Bryce Drummond from Kilmarnock. “As well as the usual IN, PENDING and OUT, he had one for tough decisions, which he filed under his chair.”
Agog at cog
A DIARY yarn about a wonky steering wheel reminds Peter Sommerville from Greenock of an aeronautical incident, when a plane had to jettison its cargo of car spare parts, leading an intrigued observer on the ground to point out that it was raining Datsun cogs.
Hot take
A THRIFTY financial thought from Sid Leslie from Kirkintilloch: “In this time of spiralling energy costs, if you happen to be one of those lucky people who have money to burn, this may turn out to be your cheapest option.”
Absurd word
DAFT pub conversations. Reader Arthur Fradgley was in the boozer, chatting to a pal about American culture.
“You know they call a frying pan a skillet,” said Arthur.
His friend pondered this for a long, contemplative moment, then said: “So in the States, do they say pandemonium or skilletdemonium?”
There was really no answering that.
Naughty knotter
PHYSICALLY-fit reader Dean Pearce once worked as a PE teacher. The department head was an eccentric chap, always finding fault with pupils.
He once complained about a particular youngster, saying: “Have you noticed the way that lad ties the laces of his trainers? Never trust a boy who can’t do a proper knot. They’re always up to no good.”
Rum goings-on
OVERHEARD in a Glasgow city centre café by reader Janet Harvey. A lady loudly explaining to her friends, in no uncertain terms, the rule of life she always abides by. “I don’t share my rum,” she proclaimed. “Sorry, I just don’t. Though I’ll happily give you the empty bottle.”
Sound judgment
“I USED to have a friend who constantly changed the noise her alarm clock made,” says Sandra Bruce. “I wonder what she’s getting up to now?”
Get The Herald for three months for £1 with our new subscription offer
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland 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 here