Raising a glass to our grandkids

LAST year, prior to our departure on a cruise, our youngest grandson, then aged 14, and his 12-year-old sister called to wish us “bon voyage”. Rather shyly, he handed me a banknote. “What’s this?” I asked. “Well, granddad,” he replied, “when we go on holiday, you and granny always give us money to spend so we thought it only fair that we should do the same.”

Not wishing to offend, we gratefully accepted.

Later that evening, aboard our ship, we invested their gift in a celebratory drink.

The toast was: “To the younger generation.”

Bob Macdonald, Perth.

Red mist

AS a young girl in the 1960s, I used to love The Sunday Post.

I was learning to read and write, and just loved The Broons and Oor Wullie.

One Sunday, I wanted to be first to get my hands on the paper.

So you can imagine my disappointment when my sister said: “Sorry, we have a different paper today – it’s called The Morning Special.”

I was furious the following week when I realised she’d covered up The Sunday Post name and let me see the small red bit of the paper which said “Morning Special”.

Fifty years on, this still annoys me!

Denise MacKenzie, Dundee.

Cross words

IN the company of a rather narrow-minded neighbour, I was squinting through The Sunday Post crossword.

An unusual word caught my eye and I said: “Oh, that’s a new one. I must look it up.” “Why?” asked Mr Narrow-mind. “Just curious,” I replied. “Huh,” he said. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Listen,” I countered, “if it weren’t for who, what, where, why and when, we’d still be in the Stone Age.”

Thank goodness for curiosity!

E. Hudson, Tayport.

Sporting chance

WHEN I was little, we played football in the winter and cricket in summer.

Now, sadly, children seem to play football all year round. Still, it’s better than being stuck in front of a computer screen.

Tim Mickleburgh, Grimsby.

Battery danger

SHOPPING in a large store I saw a box on the floor for recycling batteries.

I asked an assistant if it could be placed out of reach of toddlers but was referred to the manager who told me it could not be moved without permission from head office – so much for staff training!

When I worked in a bakery we were encouraged to anticipate danger, not wait for it to happen.

Bernard Powell, Southport.

Blitz spirit

ONE of my most vivid memories is of an experience I had as a nine-year-old during the Coventry blitz.

My parents and I were walking towards a country church which supplied refuge.

We were passed by a young couple

pedalling a tandem to which was attached a pram with a young baby curled up in it. What a wonderful idea, I thought.

Apparently they slept among straw in a derelict cottage.

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. W. Blacklaw, Dundee.

And finally...

I WENT into my local recently and ordered a cocktail drink called Porcupine Punch.

I didn’t feel too well the next morning, though – I’m sure someone had “spiked” my drink! Gerry Henderson, Larbert.