You want more GRUEL?

Heading down to the canteen, I dine on some miserable salad and a bowl of Red Lentil and Vegetable Soup. It seems familiar. I wonder idly if it's related to the Red Lentil soup served on Tuesday and the Vegetable soup served yesterday. I decide that it probably is.

No matter though - at least someone's eating well. According to the kitchen staff, the Vice-Chancellor's leaving bash is scoffing the best of everything. Through the low partitions, we can admire the acres of gleaming crystal, and listen to the jazz band noodling while the guests nosh.

Does this sound bitter? Well, perhaps I am. After all, 150 of my colleagues lost their jobs during this VC's stint, and we've all taken a large pay cuts while her income reached £240,000. No wonder that these items - received today from Left on the Shelf, my favourite bookshop - will be prominently displayed in my office.

Poster

Postcard of a Philip Berkin cartoon in Private Eye