Wednesday, September 9, 2026

The pecking order.

The first coach tour out of Edinburgh disgorges its occupants outside the cathedral. They make their way to the cafe which used to have a sign in the window saying " Where William met Kate - allegedly". Now it's been replaced with the message " Where William met Kate - for coffee ". There must be some semantic difference between the two but if there is it escapes me. 


The hugely expensive apartments in the building that Donald Trump failed to buy have suddenly emptied out after being packed solid over Labor Day. Three of them have lights on, all the others are dark. The Gulfstream with tangerine paintwork that was parked at the local airport has gone. We think it carried some of the 'fancy'  wedding party. 'The Font' wonders if the gentleman dressed in Highland chieftain costume was on board or if he flew back home 'commercial'.


The Freshers are at that 'enthusiastic' stage of life. A group of them are up at dawn and heading off to chapel to practise for morning prayers.


The newcomers are still enjoying the safety that groups provide. When classes start on Monday the communal group psychology will evaporate amid a solitary mad dash to find the right lecture theatre for a nine am start. Second years suddenly start to feel their age.... and their higher position in the pecking order.

2 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari Om
I would say that W 'met' K (i.e. the initial 'connection') elsewhere (the wall walk?) but made dates for coffee at the wee cafe. So perhaps it would be better to say 'met up for'... to have made such a change suggests there may have been 'a letter'... YAM xx

Travel said...

Did they first meet there, or did the meet there for coffee after having met elsewhere? A subtle difference, the lawyers had fun sorting out how close can we go and be true. (I had a law school professor who spent ten years litigating comma placement in a construction contract for a dozen high rise apartment buildings.)