Fair Editorial Comment

I was carrying a small bag of chamomile the other day…

“WHAT!!”, I hear you interrupt, leaping to your feet. “CHAMOMILE? YOU? YOU HATE IT”

Yes, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I was carrying a bag of chamomile.

Ok, so that might seem an unexpected thing for us to stock in our warehouse, but we actually also blend and distribute products for two other small tea brands, and this involves us stocking chamomile.

“Well”, I hear you say, having sat back down. “I suppose that’s all right, as it was not labelled under The Devotea”.

Er, well.

You see, one of the lovely teas shops we provide to keeps getting requests for chamomile, so we have done up a one-off tin and provided a few bags of chamomile. No big deal, right?

So, the net result was that I was carrying a small bag of chamomile the other day, and was between The Devoteamobile and the warehouse when a bird swooped.

I know people overseas think all Australian wildlife is pretty nasty, and that we have birds that are 5 feet high and aggressive. Well, we do, but this was a sparrow.

Said sparrow flew by in but a moment, its beating wings silhouetted against the morning sun as it climbed the sky and seemed to bounce on air, winging its way majestically over the metal rooftops.

It’s movement were poetic, except for one movement. It left behind not just a memory, but something it had no further use for. A small unpleasant deposit, that landed right on the packet of chamomile.

In regards to defamation, one defence is “fair editorial comment”. In defecation , it may be the same defence.

Fly on, little sparrow. I know what you mean.