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The fleeting touch of eroticism is more arousing than the sexual act - is what I sensed at the time. Ray ordered lentil soup, and when it was brought he asked the girl to dip her breast for a moment into the soup so he could try it, and she did so willingly. John Edward Harding III roared with laughter and I felt a strong sense of embarrassment, caused by this obvious disrespect of the female gender. I sure was not a moralist, but I found that procedure outside of a nightclub degrading for all concerned, and I was relieved when we finally left the restaurant.
oOo
Different but more enjoyable were the so-called „boxing dinners“ that we occasionally attended with business partners in London’s East End. Those were boxing events, mostly contests between an English club and a foreign one. On those occasions the gentlemen wore dinner jackets and the ladies evening wear. The tables at which we were served, were so close to the ring that, if one was unfortunate, sweat or blood of one or another fighter left traces on the table cloths, which were then immediately changed. It was quite rare that a fighter fell through the ropes onto a covered table. That was then the absolute highpoint, and was celebrated as such. Both of those things I felt to be somewhat unusual society events - definitely novelties in my life, but henceforth I got adopted to it and they confirmed my prejudice in line with my image that I had of the "eccentric" English.
oOo
But do not get me wrong. These were not day to day events. Apart from that there were more serious activities that filled up the daily routine if there were no important matters that had to be taken to Lloyd’s. John spent a lot of time in guiding me into the secrets of non-proportional re-insurance in the finest details, a matter that I would profit from right through my professional life. One day John introduced me to his own teacher: Hugh Bowman, the managing director of Marshall Hurst & Partners, at that time one of the leading re-insurance brokers on the London Market. Among his clients were large insurance companies operating in the whole world. Hugh was in his middle fifties and a genius at mathematics. His hobby was multiplying numbers of many digits in his head, which he tried in vain to teach me:
"That does not mean simple formulas such as 10 times 45, but e.g., 45 X 34 = 1530”
He tried to explain the methodology to me. He said it all functioned through mnemonic tricks. I conscientiously took notes but never developed a special facility for the art.
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