Brain Trust, Part Two

Yesterday I spied Zadie Smith's On Beauty on our bureau assistant's desk.

"Is it any good?" I asked her. "I've been resisting reading it because I had such a hard time getting through White Teeth."

"I'm not sure," she said. "I never read. I'm sort of enjoying the novelty of reading a book."

Stunned silence from me. This is a woman who works in the media.

* * *

Also yesterday, after having spent the whole of December with absolutely no cash, awaiting payment of the World's Largest Expense Report (definitely the biggest of any correspondent in recent memory), I discovered my multinational, multibillion dollar company had paid it to another employee.

Did said employee not notice his Christmas windfall?

"I filed a similar sized one, so I thought it was mine," was his answer. Wonder if he is cancelling delivery of his Aga and designer sofa as we speak...