It pays to talk!

TO really infuriate the public almost with impunity you need to be a big multi-national company.

One such giant is BT who came up with this gem barely 20 yards from my front door. Now I’ve worn glasses for most of my life but even I wasn’t going to miss going out in the morning and coming back in the afternoon to find someone had put up a brand new 30ft telegraph pole near my home.

What was attached to it was a message which was pure BT.

It read that no one could object to the pole because it merely replaced existing equipment, but that if anyone wanted to object to it on the grounds that it somehow lessened their quality of life then they had a certain period in which to do so. If the dispute could not be resolved it would go to the courts.

So why risk having to go to all the trouble of digging the pole up again at hefty cost when a simple visit to potentially affected properties for a chat could have smoothed things over before trouble even started?

The answer is that by putting a pole in and warning people they only have a certain time to object it puts the ball in their court, perhaps literally in court because they would have to feel pretty strongly about it to pursue it all the way to a legal conclusion and BT knows that. For them, their way is easier and it has nothing to do with consultation.

A bit of consideration for others please

NO more World Cup for another four years, but loutish behaviour is unfortunately not something we must wait until 2014 to experience again.

One town centre pub showing the final had the misfortune to attract a group of foul mouthed alleged football supporters who already seemed to be half drunk before the match had even started.

This was bad news for the pub’s general clientele which included family and pensioner groups not just perhaps there for the game but for food and drink as well.

They found themselves torn between leaving to get away from these morons or staying to complete their eating, drinking or viewing but at the cost of raucous company they clearly didn’t appreciate.

No one minds enthusiastic support for a match, but the air was blue from start to finish, there was mindless behaviour and antics to keep it company and it finally did prove too much for several groups who walked out.

If they act on half of what they said then it will be a long time before that pub gets another visit from them… and the delights of a new football season are still to come!

The party’s over!

AND so it’s over, all the swish dresses put away, all the glitter washed off, all the smiling adrenalin used up.

For those who took part in the school prom they will never forget it, but for mothers and fathers?

Well, their pawnbroker seems like a nice chap and 159 per cent interest per week is a small price to pay for a child’s happiness.

Teenagers can get misty eyed at their memories, so what can us parents look forward to?

It’s fair to say the honeymoon period lasted 24 hours. After that it was bigger photo albums to house a collection Interpol would be proud of.

It was a bigger wardrobe to house the ceremonial prom dress. Not more space so existing clothing didn’t crease the star addition — just a new wardrobe solely for the prom dress. Yes, Dad, I know we don’t have the space but you could make more by getting rid of something.

How about your wardrobe?

But, when all is said and done, I’m bound to say that my life is now missing something – tension, poverty, hysterics, exhaustion and a slight nervous tic in my left eye to name but a few.

Oh yeah. Daughter did have a very good time so it was all worth it.

Even our feathered friends grow old

AGE catches up with us all eventually and this seemed to be visibly true with a crow I saw in a Weymouth cemetery.

I

t could still fly and hop albeit a little stiffly but that was not what caught my eye as it foraged among the gravestones.

What stood out was its plumage.

No, this was not a white albino crow but one which was mostly black yet with perhaps a dozen white feathers in its wings and on its back.

It was clearly a venerable bird doing its dignified best to make ends meet by finding what food it could under clumps of cut grass, around ornamental flower holders or down the side of grave surrounds.

It was completely fearless and I was able to get within a dozen yards of it before it clumsily took to the air and just about managed to land on top of a grave a safe distance away from me where it waited until I moved on to resume feeding. An unusual sight indeed.

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