TOM EATON: Kill off the surplus people, as long as it’s not us

In a sunny tea garden in a small Overberg village, four people sat together enjoying each other’s company, the breakfasts in front of them and the prospect of global holocaust.

It hadn’t all been global holocaust, to be fair. The little group of retirees had also discussed a minor outrage caused by a new arrival in the village who hadn’t yet learnt “his place”. But when one of them said, “So how’s this virus?” the effect of the question was so startling that I must admit to you that I wrote down verbatim what followed — because I wasn’t the only one jolted out of my snoozy Sunday morning reverie...