anything. On that principle alone, Holmes Williams and Purvey general manager Mr. John Bento has a head start on the competition.

Mr. Bento was ticked off when St. George's North MP Mr. Phillip Smith went on television to attack HWP's policy on repairing products bought overseas.

Worse still, the businessman accused the UBP MP of getting his facts wrong in his haste to appear in front of the television cameras.

So he decided to get his own back -- by commissioning Bermuda's best-known cartoonist, Peter Woolcock.

The end result was the above rib-tickling cartoon which Mr. Bento paid to appear in The Royal Gazette in the Christmas and New Year's Eves editions.

To be able to laugh at it, though, Business Diary readers first need a basic knowledge of what went before.

Just before Christmas, a lot of publicity was given to New Jersey entrepreneur Joshua Bate, who urged Bermudians to shop abroad.

Huge savings could be made on the more expensive products, even after his commission, said Mr. Bate.

But, hold on a minute, cried Mr. Bento. It's all very well buying an item overseas, but what happens when it breaks down? Was Mr. Bate going to fly a technician to Bermuda just to repair old Mrs. Jones' washing machine? Of course not.

And anyone who went running to HWP expecting them to drop everything and fix it had another thing coming, said Mr. Bento. If two people bought product X, one from a store in Bermuda, the other from the US, then it was obvious which one was going to be repaired first, he said.

"We will always put our customers before anyone else,'' he said. This prompted the appearance before hundreds of television viewers of Mr. Smith, who berated HWP's policy.

Then came the cartoon.

"I did it for a joke,'' said Mr. Bento yesterday. "I took great exception to Mr. Smith's remarks on TV, particularly when he got his facts wrong. But, being a politician, I guess he never pays too much attention to anything.

"I did not say that we wouldn't repair products bought overseas, but said they would take second priority to our customers, which is only right, in my opinion.'' The cartoon brought a great response from the public, said Mr. Bento, who described himself as "a little Portuguese boy'' trying to make good.

"A lot of people called me and said they agreed with what the cartoon was attempting to say,'' he said.

"I'm not sure about Mr. Smith, though. The last time I saw him was on Christmas Eve and he waved to me on that occasion.

"Whether I'll warrant a wave in the future, I'm not so sure. Politicians are known to be inconsistent.''