Labour Minister Terry Lister has already drawn attention to the irony of teachers educating youngsters about right and wrong and then breaking the law by playing hooky from school.

Hester's press chums were also wondering what moral right teachers have to moan about lateness judging from this week's meeting's at St. Paul's Hall.

On Monday teachers were streaming in way after the 11 a.m. start with some ending up 40 minutes late.

The following day time keeping was even worse, with some teachers not showing up until an hour into the meeting.

Hester thinks that, with nothing to do all day, they might have found the time to arrive on time to debate an issue which the felt so strongly about that they had decided to strike for.

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Hester always believed that, to be a bodyguard, you required a body of iron, nerves of steel, lightning reflexes, and you had to always be alert to impending danger - all in all the sort of courageous, unselfish chap who would make an ideal date for Hester during a night-time jaunts down Front Street.

So your columnist's heart went all a flutter when she spotted the wife of Britain's Prime Minister, Cherie Blair, at The Reefs one evening last week - surrounded by four burly bodyguards straight out of the Kevin Costner mould. Plucking up some courage of her own, Hester approached one of the dark glasses and suits brigade in the hope of getting better acquainted.

For an ice-breaker our knight in shining armour was asked how he managed to cope with the pressure of such a stressful, demanding job and if there had been any emergencies during his stay in Bermuda.

"Aggro?" came the quizzical reply. "No, it's been an absolute doddle - we've spent most of our time at the beach."

How quickly our dreams are shattered. Or did he just mean that Tony's better half has been spending her vacation propped up at the bar of the Hester's favourite haunt, The Shame of Front Street?