‘That’s a very interesting concept,’ I remark intelligently, doffing my hat as is customary in these situations. As is always customary in these situations. I hadn’t the faintest clue as to what I was talking about of course – I never do. My life is a smokescreen and there’s nothing behind it. Disguise is everything with me. ‘An interesting concept,’ I hear you saying. You are nodding your head appreciatively. Yes indeed, remarkably interesting – I’m glad you find it so. We are on the same page there. Eye to eye communication, you might say. Concepts are peculiar things though and it doesn’t do to play too fast and loose with them. It doesn’t do to be too casual. That can end very badly. You grasp what I’m alluding to, perhaps. You are astute – I recognise that in you. Much more astute than you look. Quite possibly you are way ahead of me on this one. Concepts are like toys, so it is said – you can play with them if you wish but you’re more than likely to get your fingers burnt. We need say no more about it than that, I think. A word to the wise is enough, as the old saying has it. No need to make a big song and dance about it, in other words. As I generally do. In the seventies they had ‘concept albums’, if you’re old enough to remember that. That was the very latest thing of course – that was cutting edge stuff. For sure it was. If you were thinking of recording an album back then people would straightaway ask you ‘What’s your concept, man?’ What’s your concept, what’s your concept, good buddy? Sounds great kind of quaint now though doesn’t it? Not back then though my friends, not back then. No indeed – you had to be there of course. You had to be there. I myself choose to use it as a gambit in conversations – socially awkward by nature, I used to interject the comment ‘that’s an interesting concept’ at regular intervals in conversations whenever I couldn’t understand what was being said, which was quite often. It worked very well, as I recall. These days of course concepts are like dirt to me. They disgust me – I have no time for them at all. Concepts are just so much filth; filth to wipe off your boots before you enter the Sacred Abode. You know well what I’m getting at here – you are only pretending that you don’t. That’s the customary protocol in these situations after all and we all have to accord with the customary protocol. One doesn’t bring the filth of the street into the Sacred Abode and the filth of the street is everywhere these days. We’re fighting a losing battle against it. You can never win against the filth, as you know. We are all contaminated with the filth of the street – we open our mouths to speak but nothing comes out but worms. Such was always the way of course. Such was always the way…