I got an email from an old friend today commenting that he thought I would enjoy seeing him damned with faint praise. I thought you might too. Might I point out that he is terribly clever with vast experience so that you can suitably appreciate this also. Relevant line in italics.
Dear all
Following the various meetings which have taken place recently on the.., I write to invite you to a discussion on [X]. [A], who is working on …has identified the very strong potential for … prioritisation arising from the…work currently under way.
We are fortunate that [B] is able to attend the meeting and bring his considerable expertise to bear. [My friend] will also be there (thank you for arranging the room).
Regards
In other news, Mr. Waffle is, even as I write, attending the residents’ association AGM. I sped him off with the anxious words, “Try not to get elected to the committee.” Yes, I’m all about civic engagement; your point?
Ha! A male colleague once sent a thank you letter on to me, received from a third party for whom we had worked together in an absolutely equal capacity. It thanked the colleague profusely and also asked him to thank me, “his assistant”. This happened over ten years ago and it still bugs me.
I feel your pain.
I remember my brother, aged about 12, going to an AGM of some birdwatching organisation during his ornothological phase. My mother dropped him off and her last words of advice were not to get himself elected to a committee. He was nominated by a kindly gentleman he sat beside and elected unopposed.
I’m sure your describing your friend as ‘terribly clever’ and with ‘vast experience’ more than makes up for the faint praise – assuming, that is, that he reads your blog đŸ˜‰
MT – well, I’m sure it built up his civic spiritedness. Yes, since you ask Mr. W is on the committee.
Praxis – assuming that he does, yes, one hopes so.