Wednesday 19 November 2008

A Brace of Story Links and a Woman Disciplined by E-mail

I have to keep my posting ultra short today as I have already wasted most of a day that should have been dedicated to putting the finishing touches to volume 2 in having to correct the lackadaisical attitude of a certain female correspondent of mine who for the moment shall remain nameless. She is a woman in her late 40s who has voluntarily admitted to me that she can envisage herself all tightly buttoned up and squeezed into an undersized school uniform and it is a sentiment with which I couldn't agree more judging by the lack of clarity in her writing. I would ordinarily be loath to criticise any one's use of English , particularly as I am dyslexic and prone to grammatical slips myself, but this apparently is an intelligent businesswoman and so I have to conclude that, in this case, lack of clarity equals lack of care - and so, in my book, lack of respect. Yes, I can imagine her squeezed into a tiny school uniform all right - and a more ridiculous sight than a middle-aged woman shoehorned into a gymslip, high buttoning stiff-collared blouse, laced topped ankle socks and Mary Janes I can hardly imagine. But it is an image made all the more piquant for that element of ridicule - and all the more effective for dealing with her behaviour. With a little bit of thought applied to the design of that uniform - and imposition of a suitable regime to go with it - I think I can guarantee that after a few weeks she would be left without even the teeniest shred of self-confidence let alone arrogance. And I think I have just glimpsed the tiniest hints of arrogance between the lines in some of her e-mails, despite her humble tone. And therein lies the roots of the work that has taken so much of my time and trouble today - designing and outlining a suitable course of discipline and impositions to cure her of that streak and reinforce that part of her that clearly strives so hard to submit and yet is so reluctant to properly kneel to authority.
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Suffice it to say that she reads this blog and I know that she will recognise herself being discussed- and if she finds that fact humbling, well, so much the better.
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On a slightly different tack, others come across a couple stories on MrWhacker's site that most clearly illustrate the wonderful sense of humiliation that so often was evoked in the pages of Whispers and Blushes in the 1980s. If the humiliation and hypocritical exploitation of vulnerable young ladies is your thing then give them a try and let me know what you think.

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