Whatever next?

Two incidents in my almost ten-year courier career came to mind today as I mused upon the day's news.  On the only occasion, a couple of years ago, that I took someone with me when I made a collection of a customer's goods, we both understood without it ever being spoken, that that person would be quite willing to stay in the front of the van while I did my business.  Then, after only a minimal delay, we continued our bank holiday sightseeing journey.

One of my former colleagues one day made the fatal mistake of passing a parcel to an acquaintance for him to deliver on my friend's behalf.  This faux pas was discovered when the parcel never got delivered!  As a result, the man is no longer one of my fellow-drivers.  Because we are self-employed, he couldn't be dismissed, but he was told in no uncertain terms that there would be no more work for him, so it would be pointless for him ever to show his face in our office again!

I think it was on Wednesday afternoon that I muttered to myself, after hearing the latest news bulletin, 'he'll be gone by the weekend.'  It gives me no feeling of elation to be proved right - just a kind of bitter sadness.  By all accounts, our former Defence Minister was doing a very good job, and professionally he'll be a hard act to follow.  But what kind of mind does a man have when he can't see clearly where it is incorrect for his friend to be found, and on what trips his friend should not accompany him?  And as for all those who were interviewed this afternoon, and were apparently unable to see any more clearly than he whether what he had done was wrong or not ... are they just as blind?  Or are they scared of being on record as being decisive, but 'getting it wrong'?

And then there is this business about letters being put in public litter bins.  Mr Letwin 'wanted to make sure they didn't weigh him down'.  What a ridiculous comment.  Surely the best way to ensure that outcome would be to have left them in his office!  In days gone by, when in a former life I worked in an office, and occasionally had to deal with correspondence, I would either jot a draft reply by hand and attach it to the original for the typist to deal with, or if dictating, I would leave the original correspondence with the tape for reference when the reply was being typed.

Now, I know technology has moved on since then, so my meagre experience in this field can count for little,  but such advances are surely in directions which would mean that it is more, rather than less difficult to deal with correspondence while walking in the park?  At least, I should have thought it unlikely to be able to do so with a degree of completeness that would enable one to dispose so permanently of the original documents!  So again, I have to ask, 'what kind of mind does a man have to act in such a way?'

After the seemingly interminable revelations of the expenses scandal, when to my disciplined mind it seems totally impossible not to realise what is an expense of one's business, and what isn't, I thought I'd heard it all.  Now I'm wondering whether all political candidates, in advance of ever standing for election, should be forced to take the eleven-plus exam (or modern equivalent) to prove that they have the necessary common sense and understanding that we hitherto took for granted in our leaders!

Words - apart from the above paragraphs - fail me!