Gifted

• With Christmas approaching, it would be a good thing to remember to tip the service providers that one tends to take for granted. This includes postmen, garbage collectors and delivery men.

Gags

• Today’s radio presenters have a computer in the studio with them; indeed some of them make it obvious that they are researching and translating material they are presenting ad hoc. This means that the person who had to spell out “awe” and then said he did not understand it – and the guest who did not put him right – have no excuses.

Glorious

• Vainglorious would be a better word to describe one of the two presenters of the daily morning programme on TVM who enjoys speaking of himself and his achievements so much that often he hardly leaves ample time for their guests to reply. If he cannot control his urge then he should opt for a one-man show.

Gabfest

• The provision of free Wi-Fi connections not protected with a password in open and closed spaces could be used by unscrupulous people to commit crimes such as copyright infringement. Are clear guidelines available on this, with regard to liability for the crime?

Gaffes

• The series of spam letters ostensibly from business-minded people with Maltese names and surnames continues. Lately, potential clients have been offered a good price for their car (whether or not they have one) and a choice of “whatever one wants” at “only” €3.75. Other offers being made appear not to be as popular. Is there any way to trace the senders of these mails?

Gains

• The colorectal cancer screening service is now underway. As with the breast mammography campaign, it only covers people in a certain age band. Given the eventual drain on the local health service, would it not have been advisable for those with a family history of this type of cancer to be included in the call, even if they are not of the 60-64 years age group indicated in the programme?

Glossary

• Those of us who opt to use the national health service and are given an appointment at the Outpatients Department should be prepared to wait. What the hospital administration could consider is posting the lists of the people summoned on the day together with the time of the appointment. This would both assure those present they have the right date and time and also give one an idea of how long one is likely to have to wait.

Grouch

• Around this time last year, this column was lamenting the fact that Christmas decorations had been installed before the first Sunday of Advent and also that imitation hoar frost does not really go well with the Maltese landscape. If the organisers are so much into the recycling of dead trees, surely they could have come up with much better ideas.

Gains

• The good news is that Parliament has approved the Mental Health Act unanimously. The better news is that there will now be an independent commissioner for mental health with the brief of ensuring that the quality of life of mental health patients improves. The law is intended to shorten the period during which patients have to undergo involuntary treatment.

Guesswork

• Too many people are reluctant to apply to foster children because of the mistaken idea that they will be hounded by social workers and that they will suffer a great sense of loss once the child is reunited either with his/her birth or extended family or leaves the foster home to live on his/her own. There needs to be more public awareness. The allowance for “special foster parents” might make a different set of people look into the possibility – but, then again, it might not.

Groundwork

• For some reason, several more teenagers are going missing these days than there used to be unless, of course, it is that technology is informing us of every single case whereas before this did not happen. In any case, it would be a good idea to have the address and telephone number of the nearest police station printed on the stand for the Arriva service bus route numbers since they might come in useful in such cases.

Gems

• Too many people who do not work outside the house complain that there is nothing to do all day except chores and watching television. These people waste away precious hours that could have been used much better in the service of others through volunteering. However, it is an unfortunate fact of life that when money is all-important, some prefer idling their time away.

Graduates

• Celebrating one’s academic achievements and letting out steam is one thing but annoying others and demeaning oneself is another. Let graduates have fun but they – and their Alma Mater – should knock some more sense in the way they do it.

Glee

• The embellishment works being carried out on The Strand, Sliema are a rare example of the way disruption can be kept to a minimum. During busy hours, Transport Malta officials have monitored traffic and pedestrians, as adequate fencing kept the disturbance and dust in a top tourist spot to a minimum.

Grand

• The open space next to the opera house ruins is welcome indeed. It has already given a new appearance to the entrance to the city. The statue of Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette that stands there also honours the great man who built the capital. Pity that on the front of the plinth on which it stands one does not find his name but that of the bank that sponsored it. Of course, the bank should be thanked but better sense should have prevailed.