Mittwoch, 19. Januar 2022

The bottom of the page

The TIMES very kindly asked me to weigh in on their debate about whether Boris Johnson should stay on as Prime Minister (see below). It was printed at the bottom of the page.

Which reminds of this little anecdote:

It was Baron Boothby (1900-1986), a famous Conservative politician and an even more famous homosexual, who once stayed at Claridge's in London, and created some stir when young male pages would vanish for longer than expected after delivering champagne to his suite. At one point the concerned concierge decided to intervene. He stormed to his door and insisted for His Lordship to open it. Boothby refused, claiming he was reading a book  – and that he needed to concentrate. 

The concierge kept insisting: "I will be forced to break down the door, Sir, if you don't open immediately!"

"Don't worry!", Lord Boothby replied, "I will open the door. Once I'm done with the bottom of the page!"

Here is my little article at the bottom of the page – with a little stain. It looks like a mouse's brain (no pun intended, obviously), it's a watermark.