It’s 25th October.  The private hospital that hosted my back surgery a day earlier confirm that a car will be ready to take me home in an hour.

I start packing the few things I brought with me.  And then notice the slippers In the corner.  Now I admit to being the kind of man who’ll readily swipe tea bags and shower gel out of a hotel room.  Although I do draw the line at toilet rolls and light bulbs!  In the absence of tea and coffee making facilities I saw the slippers as fair game.  After all, if I left them behind they’d just be binned.

So I took them home and forgot about them.  Until I packed for my Malta trip at the start of the month.  I chucked them in my bag and ended up using them for my early morning stroll from bed to bathroom.  Here in Bratislava I’ve worn them every morning and evening to avoid the cold wooden floors of the apartment affecting my feet.

Now these have been paid for by my employer’s purchase of BUPA health insurance on my behalf.  A benefit that I’ve always valued despite never having used until last year. And because HMRC says that health insurance is a benefit in kind I’ve paid a hell of a lot of tax over the years to fund the use of those slippers.

Given the cold hotel floors this February, it’s been worth every penny.

Click here for previous article