A friend of mine has recently started a battle of words with his bank. The battle included adding up all the bank charges he has incurred over the last five years.
He is a bit of a luddite where computers are concerned so I offered to help him with an Excel spreadsheet. He preferred privacy and an ancient calculator.
Over a pint or two we discussed the tone and phrasing of the letter and the best attitude to adopt.
The next day he made several drafts of his letter. I imagined him sweating over his ancient Windows 98 computer, a computer, which as far as I can gather, he had only used to play Free Cell.
He came round later with the final draft.
It was written in the most beautiful and elegant handwriting. I was enchanted.
It was much more impressive than my word processed perfection.
