The One Fingered Salute

In what is being hailed as a world-first, a Salvation Army soldier told her officer that a visit would last less than five minutes—and it did.

Home League Secretary Joan Blacklock popped into her officers’ quarters yesterday afternoon to discuss business with the Corps Officer, Captain Peter Willing.

“I’d set up the afternoon tea for Home League, and I noticed that the coffee jar was half empty. I thought I’d best let the Captain know, because we’ll need a new jar in the next fortnight or so.”

Mrs Blacklock proceeded to the Quarters, where she knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When the Captain opened the door, she said, “Sorry to bother you, Captain! I shouldn’t be more than five minutes.”

“I remember looking at my watch just before he opened the door,” she told The Salute. “It was 1:56 in the afternoon. I explained to the Captain about the coffee and how we needed more. I was also careful to tell him that he didn’t need to get it straight away. I also thought I’d better mention that I’d found the kitchen light on when I arrived at the hall that day. I thought he’d want to chase that up. He thanked me for telling him, then I left. As I was walking down the path back to the Citadel my watch beeped to say it was 2:00 PM.”

Incredibly, Mrs Blacklock’s prediction that the meeting would last no more than five minutes was correct. In fact, it may have been less than four minutes.

Captain Willing said, “It was so quick. One minute I’d been sitting down working—seeing if people on Facebook needed counselling, I think, or perhaps choosing a font for the newsletter—when Mrs Blacklock knocked at the door. When she told me she didn’t need any more than five minutes I didn’t take her seriously. That’s just something you say, like ‘in conclusion’ when you’re preaching. When I realised she was right, I couldn’t believe it! That’s got to be some sort of a record, surely!”

After an extensive search, The Salute has not been able to uncover any records of meetings of this nature who’s length has correctly been predicted beforehand. If you have a similar story to tell, we’d love to hear about it!