Mrs C. wrote:I think it`s obvious from the fact that I wrote "battle" that it`s not to be taken literally!! (as well as the fact that i was tired when I wrote it!)
By "the staff" - I presume you mean me?? Which would imply that it was also wrong, or ridiculous, for me to express my support for, and "loyalty" towards ThB in the past?
As you didn`t experience the Grecians houses yourself, you possibly do not realise that a lot of the pupils in them have a strong attachment to "their" house, but it`s all in very good humour!
And it`s an issue which is by no means unique to CH!!
Can I say "of course" without causing offence? It is of humanity that we are competitive - each persomn strives to rise above his/her peers whether by intellect, by cunning ...... or even, regretably murder. CH instilled that into us by interhouse games (rugbt, cricket net(murder)ball etc so don't expect us to lose that support for our house just becaus e we haven't seen it for 50 years.
So, when ***** proves he can sink more pints in 30 minutes (or do whatevcer) than #### you can blame it on that competitive spirit inculcated by CH.
We expect housemasters and deputy housemasters to support their houses, matrons (as they were in my day), housemasters' wives, etc and non-affiliated staff were exempted from any such support - I suppose we expected thewm to be neutral. So, Mrs C, I'm letting you off the hook this time.
As for 99yorkpj, have you never heard of the Rape of the Lock? (I'm not sure what Lock got raped or whether it / he / she enjoyed it or whether it/ he/ she worked afterwards,) but it is claimed to be poetry; "West is Best" rhymes, "East is Best" does not; the correct answer is obvious. QED et cetera.
just 2 eurocents' worth