Here is something I forgot about.
I was looking through my page referals today: the log of who has come to my site and how they did so. It makes interesting reading for a narcissist: some because of amusing search phrases; some because they betray just who the individuals are, by what they call me or what they know. Anyway, I copied one search and found a reference to myself I had never spotted before, and which must be very old. The page was from the Times, and was contained in an alphabetical list of questions put to the Modern Manners correspondent, John Morgan.
Two things stand out for me about this particular recovered memory. One was that, although it appeared under my email adress (yes I have had the same address for a lot longer than a decade) it was actually a joint effort by a friend and I, and written with the sole intent of getting into the weekly column. Emily did the tricky bit, and came up with the idea for the subject, while I wrote the letter itself in so close a copy of Morgan's style that it verged on pastiche. The idea behind that was to appeal to Morgan's role as lazy-journalist-with-a-deadling : the letter would need no editing or revision, but could simply be slotted in to make up the space. The incident referre to was, of course, entirely fictional.
The other striking fact is that within a day or so of selecting this letter, John Morgan very sadly died, apparently having thrown himself out of the window of his apartment. I resist all those who claim that he, like Simeon the Righteous, had seen the future and was at last satisfied.
Anyway here are the question and answer:
Q: I recently dined with friends in a restaurant. The service was prompt and friendly so we were all disposed to tip generously and a figure was reached by mutual agreement. One member of our party, above and beyond his share of the bill, produced a small stack of coppers, which he proceeded to toss in. I felt this suggested that we considered the tip as an opportunity to empty our pockets of inconvenient and weighty small change, as well as being condescending towards competent and capable serving staff? Does "every penny count", or should we have rounded it up to convenient denominations? - endie@softhome.net
A: Heaps of copper might be legal tender but they are not good manners. Few people are so poor that a couple of pennies make such a difference to their purses, and nobody likes heaving around large amounts of change. Instead, your friend might like to follow the example of one good woman I know, who saves all her coppers and puts the proceeds to a deserving cause every Christmas.