Martin's farewell stinks
A reader writes: "Martin was the senior geography teacher at Melville High School in Hamilton in 1977 when he decided he wanted to go farming. He got a job on a large dairy farm then put in his resignation from the school. At the farewell morning tea, he was presented with a framed certificate, a black singlet as worn by dairy farmers and Fred Dagg, and a large pavlova, made by the home economics teacher — frothy white with strawberries and sliced kiwifruit on top. There was also a beautifully framed certificate. Being a kindly and generous fellow, he got a knife from the kitchen so he could cut the meringue up to share with the other members of staff. What a shock he got as he pulled out a wedge to find the home economics teacher had covered a great circular cow-pat the same size as a real pavlova with the pure white pavlova mixture and fruit topping. After everyone had got over the shock and horror, and the laughter had subsided, another couple of pavlovas were brought out. Everyone carefully inspected their segment before eating it and some folk there that day probably still do any time they are served the traditional Kiwi dessert."
Broken-pen pushers
"I worked at the NZ Post office in the early 70s. If you needed a new pen you had to show the supply officer the 'old' pen and prove it didn't work. This meant broken pens became 'in-demand' items."
