A teenage boy has today spoken of his regret and embarrassment at having his parents find a ‘Filofax’ under his bed. He has claimed he found it in the woods and has not opened it to look inside.
‘I was just in the woods looking for a Playmate’ 13 year old Seb Watson told us. ‘I saw the leather-clad organiser in a bush. I was intrigued as boys my age don't usually get the chance to look at this sort of thing.’ He then hid it in his jacket and cycled home as soon as quick as his legs would take him.
The Filofax was believed to be in a poor state, with some pages from the notebook missing and the address book pages stuck together. Experts say it’s shoddy appearance is a sign it has been well used. Cathy Litz, one such Filofax expert, explained how the organiser in question may have ended up hidden in a bush. ‘You find that in this digital era, people are embarrassed by their paper-based organisers. The chances are the previous owner’s wife found it, or it is a guilty pleasure he wanted to hide. It is not unheard of for someone to come back to an abandoned Filofax, roll their sleeves up, and use it until their wrist hurts.’
The Filofax, which started life as ‘old school’ communication covered in pastry, was often seen in the eighties in the hands of yuppies, even making an appearance on ‘only fools and horses’. However it was a widely held view that it was only used by ‘wankers’. This view has been the catalyst for the teasing aimed at Seb since the news of his dirty little secret became public. ‘If you can’t bully someone who has a filofax under his bed, then who can you bully’ his teacher told us. ‘That’s why I give him a dead arm each morning. Although I think makes him feel less seedy, as it will feel as if someone else is writing in it’
As a result of the Filofax getting into under-age hands, legislation is being proposed that will see retailers such as Rymans, Staples and WHSmiths having to display Filofaxes covered in a cellophane wrap and kept on the top shelf. Police have also got involved in trying to trace the owner, who when he lost the calendar section may have lost the only dates he ever had. ‘We can assure the owner of this material that he is not in any trouble, we just want to help’ the officer leading the hunt said. ‘All we ask that you come forward...to the 21st century’