I have just had what was probably the most stressful morning I have spent at the RA. I was working in the cloakroom on a wet Saturday morning during one of the busiest exhibitions we have ever had. I had forgotten how completely cack handed I am. Also, I had never experienced how many coats people expect to leave – coats, jackets, bags, rucksacks, newspapers, gloves, scarves, umbrellas and hats (what to do with the hat ?). It’s nearly impossible to find the sleeves on the more elaborate coats, which most of them are, in a jungle of fake fur. Then, the bags go in lockers while the coats go on hangers. After a bit, the place fills up so it’s hard to find a hanger. As one takes the hanger out, the coat next door falls off. Someone asked me if I was looking for diamonds in the pockets. On the contrary, I was just trying to find a way to hang her coat up. It made me full of admiration for the calm and sang froid with which the others – artists – behind the counter operated.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Wot fun… one of yr best yet but methinx u shd hav combined it with another brexit survey xe
bravo
Heroic ! Every Chief Executive should do a morning on those sort of jobs…… Virtuous, and educational, I expect !
Very ! Charles
I can personally attest to the keenness with which the Chief Executive brought to the job, being the proud owner of a coat personally put away him. Even though it was only 10 mins into the job he was working that whirly coat hanging machine with a flourish. Unfortunately my wife neglected to collect the retrieval token, but again enterprise was shown in that he sprinted up the stairs brandishing it in a professional way, thereby avoiding a tricky situation. Some 90 mins later when heading off to collect our coats we had a wager that he would no longer be in post , but no, there he still was, perhaps looking a little less sprightly but I have to say everything was returned in an exemplary manner
Thank you ! Charles
If I remember the layout: turn the under-used Academicians’ room into a cloak-room extension and let the RAs use the new Academy Club.