Stereotypes seen in a different light

ISN’T it strange how something you’ve taken as read all your life can be given a new twist. I’ve always seen noisy football supporters, both locally and nationally, as the apex of enthusiastic support for a sport with their passion and volume despite their occasional less savoury commitment.

All that changed the other night when I was out at a local hostelry watching a football cup game.

Numerous football supporters were there and the air was full of cheers, groans and robust comment.... until it all fell much quieter.

Intrigued, I looked round but couldn’t see anything until it dawned on me that all the new arrivals at the bar were all wearing the same type of sweatshirt. It was a skittles team!

All the bold boys of football knew when they’d met their match and kept a low profile as the skittlers tore into their support act with raucous chants, bellowed cheers, foot stamping and clapping as the building literally shook to their match.

Even more amusing, some of the football supporters rolled their eyes in mock despair as if the skittlers were somehow some sort of wayward child to be gently tolerated.

Just goes to show that stereotypes can sometimes be seen in a different light.

An eggs-traordinary story

WHEN you are a little boy who has to go shopping with Mum then a visit to the supermarket is enough to tire anyone out.

So it was perhaps inevitable that this little boy drew widespread grins and laughter when he came up with his own solution to having tired feet.

There aren’t too many seats dotted round the shopping aisles of any supermarket, but the boy was lucky enough to find somewhere to sit which was perfectly suited to his height.

The arms were a little narrow but the base was broad enough to accommodate him and the sitting area gave easily to mould itself to his body, so his wriggles of pleasure and big smiles only increased the amusement being shown by passers by.

The reason for their delight and merriment became clear when the boy stood up and ran off to rejoin his mother, revealing a sign above his seat which read: “Free range eggs here”!

I’m sure the boy was delighted that such a big place was so thoughtful towards its smaller visitors although whether the store manager liked the big dent in his eggs display remains to be seen!

MEDICAL mandarins are forcing dentists to take pictures down from their surgery walls because of fears they might be a breeding ground for bacteria.

One Weymouth dentist gestured to an empty picture hook on the wall of his surgery and told me the art had been replaced elsewhere by a different sort of decoration.... a picture-sized sign the same mandarins had required him to put up denoting what medical function was performed by a particular part of his surgery.

In disbelief I asked him what possible difference there could be in bacteria breeding ground terms between a nice A4-sized landscape and a boring A4-sized medical sign and he could only say it was beyond him.

It was beyond me too but let’s face it. When you are dealing with mindless officialdom like this then everyone is left grinding their teeth in helpless frustration.

That’ll do nicely

A PROUD new Weymouth father left no stone unturned in his efforts to help his wife and new baby in hospital.

So when the mother asked if he’d mind going to hospital staff and asking for another bottle of baby milk he set off immediately on his errand.

Arriving at the staff point he duly made his request only for staff to start smiling. The bottle of baby milk was eventually produced and staff then gave the father a bit of useful advice... that the name of the milk was SMA and not what he’d asked for which was SMASH, a famous brand of instant potato!

CANCER is a very serious subject but it does have its lighter moments.

One of the indicators of a greater likelihood of prostate cancer is an increase of a certain chemical in the blood.

So when a Weymouth man went to get the results of his tests for this chemical he was understandably concerned when medical staff looked totally confused.

It took a while for the penny to drop but they eventually realised what had happened and with a smile they gently took the man to one side.

There they explained that the results of his PSA tests were fine... and he should remember the correct initials so that the next time he didn’t ask for the results of his PFI which is a private finance initiative!

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