Anecdote

We had lunch with the Batstones at the Brushmakers Arms in Upham on Thursday. John is an excellent raconteur but the following anecdote came from his wife, Margaret, a lady with a dry sense of humour.

Margaret had taken a trip without John to see the painted monasteries of Romania. She is a keen observer of humanity. She observed the following encounter . One of those ebullient, somewhat patronising men, professional background but self made, had taken upon himself to socialise and to spread himself around the group at meals and stops. He found himself next to a frail old lady who everyone knew to be a Dame and to whom they referred to with her title.
He began the conversation by asking the very English question, "What do you do?"

I read an article quite recently about this question. The English are prone to judging people by what they do rather than by what they are. Perhaps a left over from the class system? I am upper class and I look down on the middle class who looks down on the working class. We jockey for position and establish a pecking order by what work we do.

In a very quiet voice the Dame informed him that she had retired. Not to be put off at his first attempt, the man asked the supplementary question, "What did she do?"

In an even quieter voice, The Dame said, "I was a High Court Judge!"

That is a five card trick which is pretty difficult to top and I would love to have seen the man's face.

One of the outcomes of the delightful lunch and conversation is that I have become interested in a master's degree. I am still mulling on this one and will use my blog to tease out some salient points - especially as I have two daughters who are Course Adminstrators at Portsmouth University!