SOME years ago on holiday we were seated in the hotel dining room on the next table to a rather taciturn and rotund family from the UK.

They were husband, wife and two teenage daughters and blessed with healthy appetites. Indeed, they enjoyed their food so much that we only heard them converse once during their entire stay.

One morning I happened to notice one of the daughters trying to stuff a bun containing four or five sausages into her mouth and her father suddenly said: “Mind your fingers”.

Judicious advice indeed.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland.