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Note on Old Folks’ Do

It’s customary at Christmas for teenagers to help entertain the inmates of old folks’ homes.  I was once at a meeting when the organisers were discussing the success of one of these eleemosynary functions.  The chairperson told us that the gaggle of gagas were given identical platters of sandwiches, mini-éclairs etc, ‘so that they wouldn’t squabble.’  The condescension of bureaucrats can be breathtaking.

Alan Marshfield

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