There are a few Misses I take a particular interest in. Like for instance Ms. Swan on MADtv (my favourite scene is when she dresses up in Björk's iconic swan dress) or Miss Lemon in the Poirot-TV series. Miss Lemon has one ambition, as Agatha Christie points out: ‘It was well known that the whole of Miss Lemon’s heart and mind was given, when she was not on duty, to the perfection of a new filing system which was to be patented and bear her name’
in The Adventure of the Clapham Cook:
Miss Lemon:
It's nearly complete, you see. My system.
Hercule Poirot:
Ah.
Miss Lemon:
Every one of your cases classified and cross-referenced five different ways.
Hercule Poirot:
Five?
Miss Lemon:
Oh, yes. In this cabinet, names of witnesses; in this, name of perpetrator, if known. Victim's trade or profession. Type of case: abduction, addiction, adultery - see also under marriage, bigamy - see also under marriage, bombs...
Hercule Poirot:
See also under marriage?
in The Incredible Theft:
Miss Lemon:
I didn't put her through to you because she didn't want to give her name. I told her you don't take anonymous calls.
Hercule Poirot:
But I do! Sometimes anonymous phone calls are the only ones worth taking.
Miss Lemon:
But how will I know where to file her if I haven't got a name?
Hercule Poirot:
Life first, Miss Lemon. Filing second.
Miss Lemon:
Very well then. Next time she calls I let her talk to you and on your own head be it.
Apparently there is something about women and filing systems. In Kate Atkinson's theatre play Abandonment:
Kitty: Stickers?
Susie: Little round ones. Like dots. You can get them in Office World.
Kitty: I like Office World.
Susie: All women like stationery shops. No one knows why. It's one of life's little mysteries.
Kitty: All women? Even lesbians?
Elizabeth: I think it's because they give you the illusion that you can live an orderly life. That you can sort things and file them, index and catalogue and staple, write in different coloured inks.
Kitty: Narrow ruled with margins.
Elizabeth: Reams of foolscap and quarto.
Kitty: Quires of imperial.
All three: Yeah.