The world really has gone mad this time...

Okay I admit, given my previous supermarket based experience, namely the whole toothbrush escapade, I should probably not be surprised. But I am, in fact I'm shocked, at the increasing number of random rules and regulations that seem to be creeping into everyday life. This afternoon I walked into my local supermarket to buy some fish. Don't worry, nothing happened with the fish. I was in the checkout queue, waiting to be served, when I realised that the woman in front of me was having a bit of a problem. The checkout operator (or whatever they are called) was refusing to scan 4 of her items, because, and I quote "it's against the rules". My first thought was what kind of supermarket bans people from buying things they sell? Then I looked at the offending items; Ibuprofen, paracetamol, and two boxes of Lemsip. Evidently the poor woman is ill, thought I. Evidently, this poor woman wants to kill herself, thought the checkout person. Apparently it is forbidden to buy more than two items containing paracetamol at any one time, because apparently Death by Lemsip is becoming all the rage. Now, even though this had nothing to do with me, I felt it appropriate to contribute (why oh why do I do it?). Sooooo, I helpfully suggested that the woman swap the ibuprofen and Lemsip for a couple of bottles of Whisky and a pack of razor blades. I laughed, the woman laughed. The checkout operator, evidently somewhat flustered, replied, "Yes but only if you're over 18." So I explained that yes, I am well over 18, and that actually it was a mere attempt at humour in light of a ridiculous situation. She didn't get it, and asked what kind of razor blades I wanted. So I explained that it was stupid that you couldn't buy Lemsip and paracetamol at the same time for fear of suicide, yet you could buy as much Whisky as you wanted, or even a butchers knife set if so inclined.
She still didn't really get my point. "But these are more dangerous if abused" she said. Now, I could have continued, but unlike the Americans I recognise a losing battle when I see one. So I bought the woman's Lemsip for her, much to the checkout operator's bemusement, "But you're not even ill!"

Next time I will just shop online I think.

Bye

The world has officially gone a little bit mad..

I just bought myself a toothbrush, nothing unusual in that really I guess, and to be fair I didn't really spend that much time choosing the one I wanted, I pretty much just looked up, grabbed one, and threw it in the basket. It then fell through the holes in the bottom of the basket and made me look a bit foolish. So, carrying my toothbrush in one hand, and recently admonished basket in the other, I made my way to the till. Again, nothing new. There was a bit of a queue, so I decided to busy myself (I get easily bored) by reading about my toothbrush. This is the bit that's worth reading, the rest was all preamble. Now, being no expert in the world of dental hygiene, maybe I am not the best person to comment of how toothbrushes are marketed. However, it's my blog, I'll do as I please.

If I were in charge of toothbrush marketing, and I feel the world would be a better place if this were the case, there are certain things I would look to highlight on the packaging. Things like how good it is at cleaning your teeth, which is pretty much all I expect from a toothbrush. However, the clever souls over at Oral B (though like everything else they are part of P&G) have decided to use the limited space on the packet to highlight the following three things:

*Ergonomically designed handle for greater comfort and glide.
*Three new colours
*Gum massaging bristle technology

Has anyone seriously thought when buying a toothbrush "Ooh I tell you what that last one I had was awfully uncomfortable in my hand, and to be honest I think the glide may have been hindered as a result, better buy myself a toothbrush with an ergonomically designed handle."

Or even, "You know what, i think the choice of colours is quite poor really, if only someone were to introduce 3 new colours, that would make me buy"

Or how about, "My gums could do with a bit of a massage, I wonder if there are any toothbrushes on the market that incorporate some kind of new bristle technology?"

Now that, ladies and gents, is proof that the world has gone mad in my opinion.

Till next time.

And now for something completely different....

That's right, as promised something a bit lighter this time. No more politics, war, anti-American propaganda or anything similar, at least not today.

So what then, you may ask, are you going to entertain us with today? Truth be told, and I'd be a liar if I didn't, I haven't got a clue, but I'm sure I'll work it out along the way.

Firstly, as it's Easter Monday, a couple of things that strike me as being a little bit strange.
Now, I'm not religious in any way, so maybe my understanding of Easter itself could be a little bit better, but when exactly is Easter? Christmas I understand, 25th December to celebrate the "Birth of Christ" or whatever. Right, fair enough. By that logic it makes sense to commemorate "The Death of Christ" too, again, fair enough. Only no bugger seems to actually know when we should do that, which, in my opinion, adds a little bit of weight to the whole argument about Jesus and the Bible being nothing more than a story. I mean, if you know when he was supposedly born, then surely its not too hard to find out when he died? After all he was a lot more famous just before his death than he was just before his birth, though I admit there are a suspicious number of songs and Christmas Carols in particular which seem to point towards a little bit of prior knowledge on the part of their composers. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that there is no fixed date for Easter. In my head anyway it’s always at some point in March or April, so I just did what I probably should have done before starting to write, I looked it up on the intermaweb. And this is where I got a bit of a shock. Easter, the second most important date in the Christian Calendar, falls according to the cycles of the moon.

Now, again my knowledge or such matters is sketchy to say the least, but surely that's a little bit pagan for a Christian Celebration?!
Then I got to thinking about the actual days of Easter, see how radical my thought process is?! and it struck me that Good Friday seems to be a funny name for the day when Jesus supposedly died. Call me naive, but if I were him, and I was sitting in some kind of post-project evaluation meeting with whoever was responsible for the naming of days (I'm pretty sure that's how it happens) I think I would feel a little aggrieved:
"Good work for the last few years there Mr Christ, all that water into wine and loaves and fishes seems to have had the desired effect, there's even talk of a book and a movie at some point in the future, but in the meantime what we are going to do is add a few days of holiday into the calendar in your honour."
"Ok, sounds good, when were you thinking of?"
"Well, there's December 25th of course, should tie in nicely with a big Coca Cola marketing drive too which is good, and we were thinking of a long weekend sometime in March or April to commemorate that nasty business with the old Crucifix and the Romans."
"Right....when you say sometime in March or April, could you be more specific?"
"In a word, no. You see it all depends on the cycles of the moon."
"The moon?"
"Yep, the moon. Problem?"
"Well, it's just that, well what's wrong with having it fall on the actual day that I was crucified?"
"Ah but you see we dont know when that was, do we?"
"Well I do, I was there. It was the...."
"Well obviously you know, but we thought it might add to your mystique a bit, you know, build your profile a bit."
"You think I need to, after all I've done?"
"Well, it can't harm can it? And we're going to call the day Good Friday!"
"GOOD FRIDAY? What, in the name of Chr...erm in the name of Sweet Jes... erm, well what in the name of something that came before me was good about it?"
"You don't like the name? Ah, well, we've already released the press release and everything......sorry."

Now, obviously, I don't know for sure that that is how it went, but then again, that puts me on a par with most of the Bible, which can't be bad. Oh, and another thing, if you’re gonna name the day he died Good Friday, you could at least name the day he came back to life Even Better Sunday or something.

So, in true Christian tradition, my next post will depend largely on the cycles of the moon.