'Filotimo' is not an abstract concept - good manners mixed with emotional intelligence go a long way in this world.

Whine time.

Some of you may be aware that recently, my work email address was temporarily deleted. This meant emails sent to me bounced back to their senders as 'undeliverable', I could not retrieve any emails or view my calendar and I was deleted from the online staff directory. I had to have my entire email account and profile restored from the last backup which was by then, ten days old, so about ten days' worth of emails and calendar entries have vanished from my work account.

I lost a total of eight hours of productivity - essentially one full day - as a result of this mess. A mess that could have been avoided if a colleague had paid better attention to his task.

His task was to complete a one-page online request on my behalf to upgrade my email from an old rusty hunk'a junk platform to a newer one and NOT tick the box that says 'delete current account' before I can actually be upgraded. But that, dear readers, is precisely what he did. (This information was not volunteered by the otherwise most glorious helpful IT help-desk jockey - I had to dig around and place a few special calls to find out why this happened and who was responsible).

When I called my colleague to let him know what he had done and to ask that he (a) check he hadn't done this to anyone else and (b) pay closer attention with future requests, did he apologise? No. Did he acknowledge the enormity of his error and the massive inconvenience to me? No.

However, he DID admit that the reason he ticked the wrong box was that he was probably balancing a few things at the same time. Like what mofo? Were you using a mouth-operated pointer while juggling with both hands? Were you distracted by the wallpaper of pretty kittens on your smartphone? Or was the sound of the two loneliest brain cells in the world bouncing around in your skull so loud you couldn't concentrate?

I would have happily accepted any explanation if only he'd had the good grace, empathy, emotional intelligence and manners to just say 'sorry' straight off. Simply, sincerely and with genuine remorse.

If I had caused something like this, I can only imagine my reaction - mortification, shame, embarrassment, guilt and an offer of a tray of home-baked brownies/cupcakes/cookies and a coffee as a token of apology. Instant. Knee-jerk. My hands would be reaching for the flour and butter right after I'd hung up the phone. Extreme, but typical.

His (non) reaction made me think of the Greek concept of 'filotimo' (or 'philotimo' - Google it), that complex, nuanced collection of virtues comprising empathy, grace, generosity, hospitality, consideration and a fundamental, implicit understanding of the 'why', 'how' and 'when' of righting wrongs, whether large or small.

People who embody this quality aren't necessarily better people (I suspect I am a far, far nastier person than my deadbeat colleague), and a person who truly embodies 'filotimo' would not indulge in anonymous character assassination via blog (See? Told you I was nasty).

However, there is something truly dispiriting about people who display these random manifestations of thoughtlessness. Are they stupid? Somewhere on the autism spectrum? Were they not raised right? Are they twats? Or all of the above?

Start your new year with a punch - make mine a Bellini.

There's nothing as inviting as the sight of a bowl of punch at a party on a warm and balmy night. A big glass bowl overflowing with booze, ice-cubes and fresh fruit, veggies or mint, accompanied by the communal spoon and the row of empty cups recall the wassail bowl at a viking banquet. I remember childhood parties where there would be two punch bowls - one with booze for the grown-ups and a fruity, grog-free concoction for the kiddies. The latter for some reason always had chunks of canned pineapple floating in it...

To celebrate this party tradition, let me share with you my recipe for a Bellini Pack-a Punch. I served this on New Year's Eve to great acclaim.

You will need:

1 x retro punch bowl with glasses (serves 12)

2 x bottles sparkling wine (Don't splash out - go cheap and even better - Italian!)

1 x bottle peach liqueur or peach Schnapps

1 x bottle soda or plain sparkling mineral water

6-8 x white peaches (use yellow if you can't find white)

1 x freezer tray of ice cubes

Generous sprig of fresh mint

Method

Wash, stone and chop peaches (Don't peel). Blitz in a blender with a little water until pureed and frothy. This should be like a thick juice.

Mix all the liquids together in the punch bowl until well-combined. Once the froth settles, pour in the ice-cubes and drop in the fresh mint.

Always make sure you stir thoroughly before filling cups as the fruit and booze finds its way to the bottom of the bowl.

Enjoy.