Mediocre pun yes, irritating problem nevertheless. And it’s always the small things that cause the most annoyance. I am referring to know alls who in fact know nothing.

Have you ever met someone who insists that a certain scenario is, in his or her eyes gospel truth, even though they are patently incorrect?

Recently a neighbour told me one of my favourite coffee shops in Randwick was about to close. Going, going, gone, they were selling up, lock stock and barrel, and would be history by the end of the week.

It all seemed a little odd to me, there had never been even the vaguest notion, from the staff for instance, that they were about to close. My neighbour persevered however, the coffee shop was closing at the end of the week, and that was that.

Amen. Hasta la vista, baby.

So troubled was I by this revelation, that I actually went down the road to find out what was happening. Just as well I am a regular customer, and the staff are used to my… nuances, because they were looking at me like I was an alien from Mars when I asked why they were closing.

Oh yes, they were closing, but only for the weekend, so the floorboards could be repolished, and then it would be business as usual the following Monday. No, the closure would only be temporary.

I left somewhat red faced, amid jokes of how hard up I would be when the shop closed for the end of year holidays, and how I also wouldn’t be able to obtain my regular caffeine fix on Christmas day.

I was determined to track down my knowledgeable neighbour and set her right on this issue. I also wanted to find out just how she had managed to conjure up such a peculiar idea.

When I told her what was actually happening at the coffee shop, she looked at me as if I was an alien from Mars, and retorted, “Yes, that’s right, that’s what I told you, the closure was only temporary!”