“I had the opposite problem with a healthcare fund (C8) to Sara Kasch,” says Llewellyn Dickeson of Culburra Beach. “I rang to inform them that my aunt had passed away and could I please cancel her membership. They were adamant she had to cancel it herself and if she couldn’t, then I would have to get her parents to cancel it. She was 91 when she died!”
After trading up from his Globite (C8), Brian Burgess wondered if any readers still sported a briefcase. The replies are many, starting with Marcus Daniel of Bellingen: “A friend in my writers’ group, the Inklings, used to come to our fortnightly gatherings with his ancient and much-loved briefcase. He’d purchased it nearly fifty years ago to mark the establishment of his first business, and it was still going strong until last year when the latches failed, and it wouldn’t unlock. A screwdriver was found to prise it open, sadly destroying it, to get at the ‘homework’.”
John Constable of Balmain had a colleague “who carried an impressive briefcase to work every day, but containing only the form guide and his lunch”.
“I didn’t have to wear the dunce’s cap (C8), but in kindergarten, aged not quite five-years-old, I received my first and last caning,” says Dawn Hope of Wahroonga. “From a nun with a blackboard ruler. After a few strokes on the palm of my hand, she gave me a few more on my knuckles. My crime? Talking in class. And yes, at the age of 81, I’ve never forgotten it.”
“John Brown’s reference to an ‘active runway’ (C8) reminded me of an experience in Queensland in the 1980s when three mates and I were travelling around Australia in an old Toyota Land Cruiser,” writes Geoff Turnbull of Ashfield. “After a night of carousing at the Cunnamulla pub and somewhat worse for wear, we decided to drive out of town (with designated driver) and camp for the night. We found a nice flat area and pitched our tents in the dark. We awoke in the morning to a low droning sound only to realise that we were camped on the local airstrip.”
“Technically speaking, the plane arriving at the golf course (C8) would be considered an ‘outside influence’ and if it interfered with a player’s stroke, line of sight etc, they should get a free drop,” asserts Ian Nicholls of Baulkham Hills.
Column8@smh.com.au
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