Sideswipe

Bombay hills and home of the new national rugby champions, apparently

After reading yesterday about the Mission Bay cafe's refusal to give a glass of water to a mentally disabled woman, Gayle Newby writes: "While I was waiting for my takeaways at our local Ponsonby Rd restaurant (Thai Me Up), one of our local 'special characters' wandered into the shop. She walked straight up to the counter and the man behind poured a small amount of Coke into a glass and offered it to her. Her face lit up, she took a few sips and returned the glass with a smile. She left the shop without a word. When we commented, he said she came in several times a day and wanted only a few sips of Coke. This small act of kindness left me and my daughter with a tear in our eyes, and you can be assured that we will always return here for our takeaways. There are still some kind and generous folk."

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Worst Covering Letters Ever Written:

1. "Today is the first day of my life ... Last year was a tremendous year for personal growth, insight and maturity. I courted that growth ... This year I want to "take the world by storm". I want to make a film. I want to be the producer or the director, which ever will put me in the middle of all the creativity and decision-making ... I am terrified of the all-out approach I sense in my spirit. However, I am not scared enough to let it stop me. I will go and push and strive until I have reached the finish line. I will sacrifice anything but my God (morals) and my family. Pride has no place in my new life. I will be striving for perfection."

2. "Another reason you should hire me is your web site is very unfriendly and may sway some clients into not working with you. People use websites of companies such as yours for research, and your website thinks it is witty, but it comes off very dull and cheezy."

3. " ... But that's the past. I've given them a year of my life in a minimum security work camp and I'm nearing work release status where I'll be for the next 15 months or so ... I need to connect with open-minded people like myself! My crime was a 'non-violent, victimless' one. I'm hoping this letter is reaching people who have or do smoke weed ... "

(Source: Correspondence received by Killian Advertising and published on its website)

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A reader writes; Am I the only person irritated by the deposit slips that come in your chequebook? Today, I deposited a National Bank cheque and, in the box 12mm by 7mm - about half the size of the coloured area on a standard postage stamp - I am required to record that it is drawn on the "Auckland Corporate and Commercial" branch. As it happens, I know that I can put 0115 which is the branch number (found after 06 - the bank number at the bottom of the cheque). But how many people know that? How important is it to record this information on a deposit slip when a machine reads the cheque anyway? And how many bank branches' names can be recorded in full in such a tiny space?

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Spotted by a reader, a Sub-60 courier sound asleep across two sofas on the ground floor of Shortland Tower 1. "I guess the mail can wait?" she says.