#deanehistory 94. Kilts.
Bureaucratic obfuscation in the face of instructions one dislikes is hardly new or novel. Indeed, it is written upon the heart of the modern civil service, it seems.
Likewise, a spot of the old polite passive aggressive is hardly unusual.
Bureaucratic obfuscation in the face of instructions one dislikes is hardly new or novel. Indeed, it is written upon the heart of the modern civil service, it seems.
Likewise, a spot of the old polite passive aggressive is hardly unusual.
But I still enjoy the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders’ rearguard action against plain & direct orders from the War Office.
War Office: active units are not to wear kilts.
QOCH: surely this is sent to us by mistake?
War Office: active units are not to wear kilts.
QOCH: surely this is sent to us by mistake?
This alone is often enough to see off the disliked instruction as the other side has moved on to other things.
Not in this case.
WO: nope, no mistake. You’re not to wear kilts.
QOCH: very good. What should we wear? We’re on deployment you know, can’t just pop to the shops.
Not in this case.
WO: nope, no mistake. You’re not to wear kilts.
QOCH: very good. What should we wear? We’re on deployment you know, can’t just pop to the shops.
WO: oh FGS. OK, sending trews.
QOCH: OK but the kilts are Crown property. Can’t just bin them. Where should we hand them in? We’re in France BTW.
WO: OK, reckon you’re winding me up but we’ve worked out where you can hand them in
QOCH: sorry, busy fighting Rommel. In kilts.
QOCH: OK but the kilts are Crown property. Can’t just bin them. Where should we hand them in? We’re in France BTW.
WO: OK, reckon you’re winding me up but we’ve worked out where you can hand them in
QOCH: sorry, busy fighting Rommel. In kilts.
If the Phoney War hadn’t ended I imagine the Camerons were a stage or two off “new phone, who dis?”
Don’t misread this vignette as support for such behaviour. Unless you’re facing the 7th German Panzers, parallels with your own disliked instructions are unlikely to hold water.
Don’t misread this vignette as support for such behaviour. Unless you’re facing the 7th German Panzers, parallels with your own disliked instructions are unlikely to hold water.
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