29 MAY 2004, Page 63

Q. I am very short of money but do not

have much time available in which to work. Have you any tips, Mary, as to how one can generate a bit of pocket money without going to too much trouble?

A.S., London SW8 A. Why not hire a commissioner's uniform and stand around outside Harrods? Another of Dear Mary's correspondents, who lives next door to the emporium, reports that while idling some time away outside it the other day, waiting for a friend, he had a ,f50 note pressed into his hand by a Middle Eastern customer of the store who assumed from his appearance that he enjoyed flunkey status.