2 December 2015, 5.15 pm
I am just about to close the meeting (fiercely, of course, and spattered with gold) when Mr Poore says: Stop! There is still something Important and Ceremonial to do! He presents me ceremoniously with a CIPA lapel pin. It is a gift from the Past Presidents. They would have presented it to me at the Past Presidents’ dinner the other week, only I declined to go to the dinner because it was being held in a gentlemen’s club. Until recently, I had thought that gentlemen’s clubs didn’t exist anymore, except in period dramas. But they do. And since I have neither the testosterone levels nor the good breeding to count as a gentleman (I get pretty close on the testosterone front, but nowhere near on the breeding), I decided that this was not the place for me. The Past Presidents were, apparently, devastated that I did not join them, but managed to have a passable time all the same. But I digress. Every year at the Past Presidents’ dinner, the Past Presidents invite the current President to make a little gentlemanly speech about what CIPA is up to, and then present him with a pair of CIPA cufflinks. The cufflinks are extremely special, because only Presidents are allowed to wear them. It is therefore a Great Honour to be presented with them. Except, of course, if you are not a gentleman. Clearly this possibility was not envisaged when CIPA’s ceremonial rituals were devised, which would have been about the time of the Industrial Revolution. A period also renowned for testosterone and breeding. In addition to telling people why I did not want to go to dinner in a place that regarded my insufficiently manly underwear as a barrier to entry, I also let it be known that I did not think cufflinks would suit me. I may have used a slightly different turn of phrase, but it amounted to the same thing: cufflinks are a no-no. And so, with a gentlemanliness that impresses me still, the Past Presidents instructed their jeweller to take a pair of CIPA cufflinks, saw the cufflinky part off one of them and attach a lapel pin fixture in its place. Or possibly they asked the EyeEyePeePee to do this with his rail-side soldering kit. Either way, I now have a CIPA lapel pin of my very own, and for generations to come, CIPA Presidentesses will be able to enjoy a suitably bespoke form of decoration. I feel mightily proud.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
July 2019
Categories |