Been reminiscing about my dire first full-time job in publishing, at Plexus (I can’t be bothered to hide their name. Look, here’s their website, too! http://www.plexusbooks.com/ They were doing Tupac books back when I worked there!). One of my clearest memories of that time – other than sobbing in the toilet and wondering how badly my future career would be damaged if I quit my first job after two months – was of my boss dictating emails to me, which I would write on a note pad, and type later. We only had email on one computer, you see (well it was 2001), and I only had access to it for about an hour a day. I remember asking her ‘Do you want me to pp it?’ Meaning, do you want me to sign your name and write pp next to it, indicating that although you didn’t sign it, you gave me permission to? She, harassed and impatient as always, barked back ‘No, I don’t want you to pp it. There will be no pee-peeing.’

I just thought of it now, cos I was on my way to the loo when my boss intercepted me for a holiday form. My pee-peeing was delayed by a few minutes.