I had a nicely whiny editorial all written, about the ineptness of PayPal and AOL – but then I thought, “You don’t need to hear me complaining about life again”. So, here’s guest columnist Emily Fata to complain about life instead…

A little background first. She has been after us to buy her a cellphone for a while. Precisely why she needs one – apart from the obvious one that ‘all her friends have one’ (a fact open to some dispute, actually) – has yet to be established. But we said that if she worked to pay for it (two hours, twice a week – and work is a loose term, encompassing whining, moaning and complaining about work as well as actually productive and gainful employment), she could have it.

This, however, proved too much for her to cope with – particularly when put alongside shopping at the mall, hanging out with her friends, and so on. The following was received by Chris and I as her letter of resignation – we feel sure she has a great future in front of her, perhaps as a trial lawyer, a diplomat or an enforcer for a loan-shark, guilt-tripping debtors into paying up… Who’d be a parent? 🙂