The Editor, Sir:

Is it just me, or are we the only country on the planet where the harmless doodlings of a person could cause such a furore? I have come to the conclusion that should this current PM walk on the surface of the sea between the Kingston Harbour and Port Royal, without sinking, the headlines would read 'PM Simpson Miller cannot swim!'

So the PM doodled while someone was speaking, about something important in the Parliament? Does this mean that she wasn't paying attention? How many of us do one thing at a time anyway? We do homework while watching TV, while cooking dinner, while having telephone conversations.

Women are noted for multi-tasking ... and none of the tasks suffer. I for one fill in o's on the front page of both morning newspapers as I speak on the phone. I, like most other persons, doodle a lot, especially when we feel stressed, it's how we stay focussed, especially when we really want to scream at someone. You see Sir, doodling calms us down.

All of this is much ado about nothing; but then, we are very good at that, aren't we?

Sometimes I feel sorry for the PM. She gets bombarded about the simplest things ... now we are having public voting and great discussions because the woman scribbled some items on a piece of paper! Can you imagine the reaction if she had written a curse word, or Bruce Golding's name? I guess that would have been one more reason to ask for her resignation.

This is a strange country indeed.

I am, etc.,

CARMEN CLARKE

Kingston