Now it may just be me, but I have increasingly been noticing a worrying phenomenon.

There seems to be a trend locally for, shall we say, depositing a great many square pegs in round holes. What I mean is, I am seeing far more incompetent people given the kind of responsible jobs for which they are quite obviously unqualified for, unsuited to, and therefore totally incapable of delivering competently.

Anecdotally: we know a lad from our village who, while he is a perfectly pleasant boy, he is... shall we say... a tad short of the sort of cerebral grey cells that would greatly assist him in his employment... any employment. To be blunt: Grezju is as thick as the proverbial two short planks. Nonetheless, he is to be seen most weekdays swanning around the historic streets of our capital city in a generously cut (especially where the sleeves are concerned, dark suit, brown shoes and carrying a bulging and very new - briefcase. To anyone with half a brain he looks like the proverbial fish out of water, floundering around Valletta, trying to look important, but failing spectacularly.

You may ask, but does he have the right qualifications for his employment by the ministry of something or other? Well yes, I suppose he does... one anyway, it is certainly not academic. It is... active membership of the current governing political party.

Grezju is also a big lad and has reputedly served as "security" for a number of government ministers and parliamentary secretaries in the past nine years. I have no idea what his current job title is or even which ministry he is now working for. But whichever it is it has, admittedly done wonders for him. Before 2013 he used to slouch around the village in sawn-off jeans, lurid T-shirts, ogling the girls and collecting his unemployment money. However, since Taghna lkoll he has had a proper job. So it's not all bad news out there.

The other day I happened to hear, no... to actually over-hear one of the best comebacks for a very long time. My wife and I were at lunch with a group of friends we have known since we were all teenagers... yes, a long while back. There were about 12 of us altogether. At the time of the exchange I happened to be in the Gents loo and one of the women in our group passed near the door, so I could hear clearly what she said. As she passed the door a British-born male member of our group, Charles, who has been married to a Maltese lady, Gemma for many years, also meandered past.

The woman, let's call her Pat, immediately accosted Charles: "Oh Charles, I wonder... would you please say grace before lunch today?" Charles, who is, incidentally, one of the most laid back people I know, responded laconically thus: "No, I don't think so Pat. I'm not religious and I'm also not a Catholic. So sorry... no I won't, ask someone else." Pat wasn't done yet, she countered with: "Oh Charles, you mean you've lived here with us for over 40 years and you still say you're not a Catholic?" Charles, without missing a beat, came back with: "So, by your reasoning: If I had lived on the island of Lesbos for 40 years, that would make me a lesbian?"

I admit I laughed for a good minute and a half... priceless!