It was one of my colleagues birthdays earlier in the week, so as per the usual routine he was obliged to buy some form of cake for everyone. Except me — when he sent the request list around on Monday morning: I told him I didn’t want one, just didn’t fancy one, no thanks, not to worry.

And then I bumped into him again on Monday lunchtime when I was heading to the shops in Newcastle for a brief potter about, I gave a deep sigh, having for no particular reason had what seemed to be a particularly long and tiring morning and had said something to the effect of:

Crumbs! If I’m feeling like this by Monday lunchtime, I’ll never survive the week!Me

And bless his little cotton socks, but while he didn’t come back with a cake for me, he dropped off a Jack Daniels miniature on my desk and said “here, you look like you needed that!”. There are some times you really appreciate little touches from friends and colleagues, and this was one of them.

Obviously, I don’t drink at work (except for Diet Coke, Dr Pepper Zero and coffee), and so it isn’t really there for emergencies.

But I still like the idea of it: the fact that if at any time I’ve had a particularly tough day, when it’s time to finish for the evening I can call upon trusty Uncle Jack at but a moments notice…