Mourning the loss of Independent

The loss of the Independent newspaper will be felt by many, among them press officer Steve James from Wingham.

Steve owns the first edition of 1986 which included rumours that Michael Heseltine was challenging for the Conservative Party leadership, West Germany warning of the threat of East German and Czechoslovakian missiles and the first salmon for more than a century caught in the Thames thanks to improved water quality.

Steve said: “I love newspapers and always have – so I’m sad to see the demise of the print version of the Independent.

“It has been a brilliant newspaper that broke the mould and dared to challenge. It once represented the journalistic future, and its presence will be sadly missed.”

An increasing number of people in Canterbury are afflicted by doctor’s receptionist syndrome (DRS), I can report.

This is the personality flaw in which people suppose that because they work for someone important like a doctor they have an equal claim to status and authority.

Schools are hotbeds of infestation as I found to my chagrin last week.

A typical conversation works like this:

The DRS sufferer answers the phone with a tone which is full of foreboding for the jarring exchange ahead.

It turns into haughtiness bordering on outright contempt when you ask for the important personage – the man they gate for.

A series of questions ensues – the most irritating of which is: “What do you want him/her for?” This entails a lengthy monologue on the caller’s behalf and one which they have to repeat once past the gatekeeper.

With all this in mind, here are some thoughts for those with DRS: ditch the snooty voice, drop the snotty attitude and remember you make your living answering phones and signing for packages for other people.

Steve James