It’s easy to get carried away over things that are free, such as briefcases stuffed with money or being offered seats in the pointy end of an aeroplane.  Stories can be woven around simple incidents, but often the truth will suffice.

Still in New Zealand, my wife and I were following signs to an historic village museum in Auckland.  A wrong turn and there it stood – a lone briefcase.  It occupied the edge of a car space, right in the middle of a car park.  There were a few cars parked around the periphery.  We looked at each other.  I decided I’d better relieve the briefcase of its loneliness. (more…)