Pull the plug? No, just pull the chain!

YEARS ago, when my family lived in the countryside in Nottinghamshire, we often had power cuts. I decided to set up my own generator to give us back-up electricity. It was only a small model and I had stressed to the children that they should be careful about what they switched on around the house while it was running to avoid overloading it. One evening, my wife and I were downstairs in the middle of a power cut with the generator running when we heard a plaintive call from my daughter upstairs. ‘Are you there, Daddy?’ she inquired in a tremulous voice. ‘I know we are in a power cut, but am I allowed to flush the loo?’ I’m afraid that despite now having children of her own and running a very efficient household, she has never been allowed to forget this sweet childhood bloomer.