This might seem very odd – why would the English, with their horror of earnestness, elect such tediously earnest people to run so many of their clubs, societies, committees and associations? The answer is simple: these people are often the only ones who are eager to take on all the tiresome admin (which they insist on calling ‘management’) involved in organising meetings, agendas, rotas, minutes, guest speakers and so on – although they adopt a martyrish air about this, and regularly complain that no one appreciates all their hard work.
