2nd October 2007; The Spy Who Loves Me

My husband's name is Quentin, (friends call him Q), an unusual name in Dominica and one which local people can find difficult to learn.

When parcels arrive, we are summoned to the Post Office, where we identify ourselves before being given an old bread knife on a piece of string. We then open the parcel, so that the import officer can charge us an appropriate import tax.

"I can never remember your name", the officer said to my husband smiling.

"Call me Q", said Quentin, "Just think of James Bond. He had a Q as his back-at-the- office man!"

"OK, Q!" was the chuckling reply.

On the next visit, the officer looked at Quentin and was obviously anxiously pondering. Now if, on the previous visit, Quentin had had a big Q on his T shirt, or on a badge..... but this was not the case! Q had taught the officer through his voice with an auditory explanation, so his teaching was not effective enough, because the officer thought and said, "Hello Mr Bond!"

Well, much as my husband is teased by our friends who now call him Mr Bond, I have to say that teachers do this, don't they? They tell a child, expecting that the child will learn through his ears, whereas a re-inforcing visual message would promote far more effective learning. My husband really should know better...he is married to me! But he doesn't complain. He is pleased to be Mr Bond. If only he had the car to go with it! Then I really would say "Wow!"