{"id":53970,"date":"2012-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cover-magazine-com.stackstaging.com\/2012\/12\/23\/musings-on-queen-country-and-table-mats\/"},"modified":"2020-05-20T16:45:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T16:45:45","slug":"musings-on-queen-country-and-table-mats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cover-magazine.com\/2012\/12\/23\/musings-on-queen-country-and-table-mats\/","title":{"rendered":"Musings on Queen, Country and table mats"},"content":{"rendered":"
Beware the office whip round. A strong arm tactic to collect money for a gift earmarked for a colleague; opt out at peril of your weak limbed grasp of the greasy pole<\/a>. Workers know their drip feed investment into the office equivalent of a Ponzi scheme<\/a> is as as likely to create meaningful long-term yields as it’s likely for senior Ministers of State to gift HRH Queen Elizabeth II with a set of table mats. Except they did. British Cabinet Ministers commemorated the Queen’s December 2012 visit to a Cabinet meeting with a whip round<\/a> for sixty melamine table mats<\/a> fit for a Queen. <\/p>\n “You can never have too many table mats”<\/em> crowed Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Thinking the Under Butler<\/a> quickly stuffed the mats into the Royal regifting<\/a> cupboard brands your scribe as decidedly middle class. Why? Because the gift<\/a> was suggested by Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s breakfast table includes Tupperware<\/a>, so melamine mats make for comfy cupboard soulmates. <\/p>\n