DQ vs BQ

Decades ago when last I worked for pay, there was a unique way of promoting people that required entry onto the BQ list, which is an abbreviated way of saying 'best qualified'.

Depending on one's experience, performance evaluations, courses taken, brownie points, skin tone, accent and -in situations involving particularly attractive females- sexual proclivities, one amassed a certain amount of points. As long as you could attain a set number, you would qualify for the BQ list and those on the list would be interviewed for the position at hand.

Once you reached this point, all bets were off as the interview process was highly subjective and given to abuse. It was also outside the appeals process in the event one felt unjustly treated.

At this point I would like to say that I have nothing further to say about the nefarious BQ list having spent an inordinate amount of time railing against it many decades ago when last I worked for pay. I mentioned it only in passing. I was reminded of it by a book I am re-reading for the 3rd time, Don Quixote. It struck me that the man from La Mancha's initials are DK. I don't know why I considered that out of the blue, but I did and that in turn brought to mind the BQ of bygone days.

In mentioning Don Quixote, I would heartily recommend it. The version I am currently reading is the latest translation, a relatively recent one from 2003 done by Edith Grossman. http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Don-Quixote/?isbn=9780060188702

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While I am recommending mid Springtime reads, for non fiction fans there is a timely retelling of how the good old US of A got into the first World War. If you thought presidential perfidy is something of recent hatching, I invite you to read The Illusion of Victory - America in World War I by Thomas Fleming. http://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Victory-America-World-War/dp/046502467X

For the penurious among you, feel free to check it out at your local library under the call number 940.3F. While many of our public libraries have succumbed to romantic fiction and more strenuous forms of pornography, there are still not a few branches where this enlightening book is available. Get it before the reconquista is finished.