Tom Wilson always seemed oblivious to the arrival of other human beings when they were ushered into his office. Jean's announcements were crisp enough but the boss liked to keep his eyes on his computer screen for longer than was comfortable and visitors were forced to linger in that dead space between the door and the desk until he finally deigned to look up.
"I have another new idea, Tom, " I said quickly, so as to circumvent any rush attempts at civility. "I think you'll find it interesting."
He waved for me to sit down. "Better than the last one I hope."
"Much better."
So I began. My warm-up was soothing: praise for Wilson's sense of judgment followed by a finely timed compliment on his new chair. Then I revealed the full thrust of it. Social research had got out of touch with its roots, I said; it needed something to bring it back into the limelight. "What we need," I said, aware of a pompous tone rising in my voice, "is an anthropology of ourselves." Against my better nature I emphasised my final two words with my index fingers hung in the air.
Wilson's voice seemed to have lost all intonation. "Mass Observation."
"You've heard of it?"
He lowered his chin and looked over his glasses. "William. British social policy in the 1940s was founded on it."
"Ah."
"But do carry on."
So I carried on, my voice getting ever more confident, outlining my strategy, breaking down the budget, all the while skipping over the grey areas, the pockets of doubt, until I reached my triumphant conclusion " I want to hire ordinary people to eavesdrop on the public, just like they did back in the day. We'd be the new Mass Observation. You couldn't get fresher than that."
Wilson smiled a limp rag of a smile, arched his fingers into a triangle and leant back in his chair. Time didn't stand still. It ceased to exist.
"You know what?" he said at last. "I like it. I actually like it. But what you are suggesting is somewhat illegal. Depending on your method of course."
"Don't worry," I said. "This will be very low key, I promise. Any eavesdropping will be done strictly under the radar."