Startles – those moments when vanilla life generates a comment that excites one’s kinky interest – don’t have to involve spanking per se. Take two vignettes from a day out in London last weekend.
The first was in the new Household Cavalry Museum, on the caption describing a clock:
The time is set to 4pm commemorating the moment in 1894 when Queen Victoria, having found the Guard gambling and drinking, ordered a daily inspection at 4pm for the next 100 years.
Known as the ‘Punishment Parade’, it has become a tradition that continues today.
Later, lunching in Imli (our second favourite Indian restaurant), the next table was occupied by a gentleman with his much younger lady friend. She was just ‘my type’, with a lovely Northern accent. The dialogue as I overhead it went something like this:
Him: So how old is your mother?
Her: 42. She was only 17 when she had me. She got married in the September; I arrived in the December.
Him: Wow, she’s only two years older than me.
(Pause)
Him. And how old’s your sister?
Her: 17.
He didn’t say much for a minute or two, but I could see his mind on overdrive with all sorts of most inappropriate thoughts. As, indeed, was mine.
So is the Punishment Parade open to the public? That would really draw the tourists! I wonder what the original punishment was, and whether Queen V administered, or just watched.
It could be worse. He might have asked, “And how old is your mother?” and then “My God, she is the same age as my wife!”
Hermione – I think the very act of having to put on a parade was probably the punishment. But I’m sure we can think of additional features… a tressle set out on Horseguards’ Parade ready for the daily birching, maybe?
Rob – I rather think that’s the funniest comment here in months
I had one of those last night. I was watching a play, and suddenly one of the main characters goes into a monologue about how much she likes to submit.
Shay – you can’t leave us in suspense like that: which play?!
Hmm, I’d like to know too. Speaking of plays, I wonder how Torvald dealt with Nora in A Doll’s House. D’ya think??
Thank you for the explanation of what ‘startles’ are. When I first began reading your blog, it was on a Blackberry, and the font was so tiny (and I am optically challenged as well) I thought the word was starties. I assumed that was a cute form of ‘starters’, or what we call appetizers here, before the main part of the meal. Something to whet the appetite? Works for me!
The name of the play was “Big Love” by Charles L. Mee. It’s based on the ancient trilogy “The Danaids”. The basic story is that fifty sisters are under contract to marry their fifty cousins, so they flee Greece for Italy, but the grooms chase them. The one I was referring to is named Olympia, but I thought her sister Thyona was most in need of a good spanking. 😉