Master Dorian

Living in a country where everything is so much more expensive means that I need to do some detective work and figure out how to get the most bang for my buck (or quid, as we'd say it here). When checking on prices for the Cheeky Charlie's playspace yesterday, I noticed that "advantage" cardholders got quite a deep discount. How does one get an advantage card, you ask? Well, so did I.

Turns out, you need to live in The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (and prove it), to get a free advantage card--giving you access to a bunch of offers/discounts and even free visits to the Windsor Castle! True, we won't be residents in this borough much longer, but I got us the cards anyway (and they're good for 2 years!).

When the nice lady at Cheeky Charlie's handed me the cards for the kids, I noticed something scary--they knew that Dorian was the one who actually called the shots in this family. Why else would they call him "Master"? Here's what the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia article taught me:

"Master was used in England for men of some rank, especially "free masters" of a trade guild and by any manual worker or servant employee addressing his employer (his master), but also generally by those lower in status to gentlemen, priests, or scholars. After its replacement in common speech by Mister, Master was retained as a form of address only for boys who have not yet entered society. By the late 19th century, etiquette dictated that men be addressed as Mister, and boys as Master."

 A little bit of research quelled my fears--maybe CCTV wasn't installed in our flat after all. Meanwhile, Audrey's back with another quick lesson!