OK this has been a long time coming but if I don’t bring it up then the issue is just going to fester.

I speak of none other than the issue of tokenism. There are a few places on this planet which employ people just for their skin colour. Let’s just call them ‘tokens’.

Now, before the racist web comments guys start cracking their fingers and get ready to get stuck into this one, hear me out.

In days gone by it was generally acceptable to have the odd token person in the organisation.

That may be because of their skin colour, their hair colour or for any other reason.

Then no-one could actually say anything against that organisation.

But what the organisation didn’t realise was how the token person kind of took advantage of things.

This in turn made it a little more difficult for other people to make their mark in that organisation.

The token it seems had it all planned out and was not about to have his position undermined.

And if it meant putting a fellow token down, then so be it.

I heard of one man who managed to con the council out of a full week for a religious holiday that didn’t exist.

Another bloke managed to get something translated into a language no-one actually spoke.

It was the heady days of tokenism when almost anything and everything was game.

But alas, things have changed. People and organisations are far too clever to be stung like that.

Well, you would think so, wouldn’t you?

I still think in the modern times there are a fair few tokens making the rest of our lives hell.

I rang up one organisation last week and they slammed the token in your face...as if to say 'Look we would love to talk to you but the token here speaks better English than we do. And more importantly it saves us from the bother you claiming anything later'.

I hated how the whole thing could have been resolved without me having been put before this person who in turn kind of revelled in the fact they had so much control over my life.

And it was amazing how this fellow seemed to think he knew me better because ‘we were essentially the same’ Now I know it’s tough getting a job when you have a foreign sounding name – but maybe a little common sense might prevail.