THE YOUNG policeman looks bored. “Do you have a booking,” he says. “Yes,” I answer, “we’re staying at The Northern Light Inn.” He doesn’t quite manage a sigh. “Let me see the booking,” he says.
ARE YOU JUST sick of the news, or is the news actually making you sick? It’s a pertinent question in the age of ‘doomscrolling’. In America, psychologists are already talking about ‘headline stress disorder’ and ‘news anxiety’ as consumers wilt under a relentless barrage of negative news reports - true and false.
Good food, Hospitality
LET ME TELL you about Poppy. She was waiting tables in a London French restaurant when I noticed her. She was slight, very young and (as the young have a tendency to be) good looking. She also knew precisely what she was doing.
Curiosity, Ideas, Back stories
OKAY, I ADMIT IT, I have a problem with copy generated by AI chatbots. That’s hardly surprising, you might think, after all I’m a human who has written for a living for more than half a century. But, to be clear, I’m not in fear of my livelihood - it’s just that chatbot copy is so often very badly done.
Travel, Wild places
THE YOUNG policeman looks bored. “Do you have a booking,” he says. “Yes,” I answer, “we’re staying at The Northern Light Inn.” He doesn’t quite manage a sigh. “Let me see the booking,” he says.
