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| Bristow's Inferiors | |||
| Bringing up the Rear | |||
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The Commissionaire
Pompous, in a pseudo-military uniform and moustache, his main task is to make latecomers sign the Late Book. In fact this appears to be his only task. But he is also good at smiling smugly when Bristow is trying to retrieve a parcel that has, alas, found its way into the System. For once something is in the System then there it will remain until the System deems it right to reject it (even if you can see it on the shelf in the office)
A cocky little man who fancies himself
with Traffic Warden 262 - strip
2463
- , he irritates Bristow by describing Sir Reginald
Chester-Perry’s life of luxury. Bristow riles him by imitating the
sound of a punctured wheel or by pretending to assist in push-starting
the Rolls. The chauffeur likes nothing better than to park the gleaming
car just outside the office with the radio on; Bristow's retaliation
is to encourage his friend the pigeon to drop an appropriate message.
Although he seems somewhat contemptous of
the Chauffeur, there is something about him that fascinates Bristow. He
is forever asking about his relationship with Sir Reginald, and the possiblity
that the firm's founder might wish to take a buying clerk on his luxury
yacht for a well earned holiday. And there is one time,
strip 5498
, where Bristow seems keen to switch jobs and put on a peaked
cap himself.
Mrs. Chrisp and her infernal subscription list  Every
week Emily Chrisp will be found in the wake of Atkins
of Accounts. As he dispenses the wages so she will swoop with the
latest collection for a leaving present, a wedding gift or some deserving
cause. Bristow has more "street wisdom" than any other clerk
in the building but even he has found no way to shake off Mrs. Chrisp.
Some weeks he merely moves the wages from the "In" tray to
the "Out" tray. And sometimes he flees to the most inaccessible
corners of the building but to little avail strip
4141
.What Mrs. Chrisp actually does for a living is not clear. She has never been placed within the typing pool or the switchboard, and does not dress like a waitress. So she is either a personal secretary or that rare breed, a female office worker. But maybe in the past she had some culinary involvement because her name has also been linked with the Great Tea Trolley Disaster. Incidentally Mrs. Chrisp (sometimes known as Crisp) is one of those chameoleon like characters whose appearances changes radically each time we meet her. This can be seen clearly by comparing the inset picture above with strip 4141. I think she is siphoning off the proceeds of her regular collections and indulging in fancy hairdressers, makeovers and expensive plastic surgery, and it is time that this scandal was exposed.
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