A brilliantly vile panorama

We've hit the one-hundred-and-sixty mark with the boxes piled in the fire exit corridor. These, together with the pile in the corner by the Acq. Team, and the latest batch of Book Off books, and the SureStart Treasure Boxes, are making Noreen fretful. Leaving one of their posts vacant for five years and cutting Jimmy Huddersfield's post has had its effect and the combination of badly-timed famines and feasts; Mary's habit of buying things and leaving them for months on end before letting the Acq. Team know what needs to be done urgently; and the relentless torrent of lunatic reading initiatives has finally broken the production line. Betty's having to be off work for a week with a sprained wrist has been the proverbial straw.

"I'm not worryng about it at all," lies Noreen, "I'm in complete denial about the fact that we're drowning in boxes and any day now I'm going to be told that instead of us buying the new stock for Catty over the past few months in small, manageable doses I'm going to be given less than a week to order, receive, invoice and process all of it. I'm just not worrying about it at all. Happy days."