This blog is brought to you by the colour pink

"Have you put it in the pinks?" This was the question we asked each other pretty much daily in one of the first charities I worked for, back in the mists of time (OK, the mid-1990s). I know what you're thinking: "What did this mean? What were the pinks? I hope it's nothing rude. Dare I read on?" There's nothing to worry about, of course, but thanks for sticking with it. This was the thing: whenever we printed out a letter in the fundraising team, we would photocopy it once for our relevant file, and then a second time for the 'pinks folder', so called presumably (I never thought to ask) because originally the 'carbon copy' of the paper was pink. We would then circulate this ream of papers among the team, so we could all see what everyone else was doing. Yes, you've guessed it. It didn't really work for a number of reasons, though the intent was good. And it was particularly bad for the environment, of course. There was no filter. We didn't know what to concentrate on. Eventually we didn't really read any of it. "I only eat pink crisps" A few years later, one of my nieces went through a phase that lasted about a year of refusing all crisps unless they were prawn cocktail flavour. This was because the packets were pink, and this was by some distance her favourite colour, as she was about four at the time. I need to remind her of this period, because she's graduated this summer with an art degree, so I believe her palette has broadened just a little since then.