Mandy Thursday, also known as the Festival of St. Peter, has been celebrated in England since 1985, when Peter Mandelson was first appointed to a government post. That’s right – over 40 years ago! Mandy comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning give me all your money.
The Holy day is usually celebrated in London by the distribution of Mandy Money. Originally, Mandy Money was given out as special coins by the monarch, but more recently Mandy Money has been handed out as special payments by the government. Over the years Mandy Money has been given out for many things, taken many forms, including bonuses, pay rises, redundancy payments, travel costs, promotions, bonuses, severance payments, expenses, and so forth. In similar fashion, the amount of Mandy Money was originally to be determined by the monarch, but the current arrangements are that the recipient determines the amount for himself. On the most important occasions Mandy Money is handed over in a ceremonial brown paper envelope.
In recent years the Mandy Money tradition has fallen into disrepute because of negative associations with the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
Image credit: perchance.org
The row over the redesign of Britain’s banknotes entered a new phase today when it emerged it may all have been for nothing.
“We know from experience that some people manage to be offended by just about any historical figure,” said a spokesman for the Royal Mint today. “Even if their opinions were completely normal for the era they lived in. But I guess TikTok doesn’t go into that much detail.
”So we thought we’d circumvent all that by having sweet little animals on the banknotes instead. Who could possibly be offended by them?”
Quite a lot of people, as it turns out. First to “speak her truth” was GenZJenny, who tweeted that the mating habits of the common stoat, which features on the new £10 note, fall far short of the requirements for verbal consent to be obtained at every stage of intimacy, as distributed to all university freshers since 2015.
Others accused the Royal Mint of “privileging Anglocentrism” by featuring only animals native to Britain, saying it was “practically the Amritsar massacre all over again. Educate yourself. I’m literally shaking.”
The spokesman said they’d learned their lesson, and would in future not bother pandering to professional offence takers since it clearly makes no difference.
”And after all, if they’re in their teens or early 20s now, it’s not like they’ll ever have any money anyway.”
Image: matuska - Pixabay