Important opportunities

I thought that readers who do not see the Guardian should know that two important opportunities have arisen in the world of donkey welfare, where it is proposed to appoint no less than two senior donkey welfare advisors, one to work in Great Britain and the other to work the whole of the island of Ireland. Donkeys are clearly far too important to recognise human trivia such as national boundaries.

I was intrigued over the toast & marmalade by a vision of a whole hierarchy of donkey welfare advisors, with donkey advisors (trainee or entry level), donkey advisors, senior donkey advisors. principal donkey advisors, senior principal donkey advisors and chief donkey advisors, all coming with, naturally, proper distinction between temporary, provisional and substantive grades.

Sadly, after attaining the dizzy heights of chief donkey advisor - and those interested in a career in donkeys should also bear in mind that only countries as large and as hot as, say, Nigeria, warrant such a person - one has to abandon the donkeys themelves and enter the open structure. To become, as it were, a general officer commanding.

And to think that this advertisement appeared alongside all kinds of advertisements for important work in the field of welfare more generally.

All in all, it was good to see that all the money we had put out on Christmas Cards from the charity concerned was going to be put to such good use.

PS: I am not so pleased to find that the logos etc which charities are putting onto their cards are getting bigger and bigger. They have grown from being a discrete little affair at the bottom of the back of the card to quite a large & additional affair on page 2, competing vigorously with the carefully chosen image on the front of the card and just opposite where one puts one's own message. One has to be so careful to match charity with recipient.