Notes & Queries response: How many people does the average person talk to during their lifetime?
image generated by Craiyon This is my response to a question that appeared on the Notes & Queries page of The Guardian website on 9th October, 2022. The Guardian is apparently no longer happy to host my comments on their site. I am replying here instead because it is too good a writing exercise to give up: How quickly can you go from a prompt, a blank mind, and a blank page to a finished piece? And how good can you make it? This blog is obviously not affiliated with The Guardian. Its reference to a question that appeared in Notes & Queries is presented here under the terms of fair use. ~ How many people does the average person talk to during their lifetime? A few years ago I received a confusing and distressing email from Banu Javadi, who I had once worked with, behind the counter of a Greenwich coffee shop, while she was studying for an economics degree in London. I recall that we got on fairly well. I remember her chiefly for bringing her own carbon paper to work. We used it ...