PC Madness

I notice that Justice Secretary Brigit Prentice is calling for a boycott of shops that sell pink things for girls as being "sexist". My daughter has grown up on a farm and was given trains, tractors and "boys things" to play with as a child. Yet still her favorite colour is pink, she is not a child that plays particularly with dolls that is her choice, but she loves all things pink and I am not willing to impose my views on a small girl that has decided what she likes. I view this as a phase and one day she is likely to grow out it. The aim apparently of this campaign is to "challenge girls to fulfill their full potential". How boycotting pink is going to achieve this I am not entirely clear. I view the fact that as a single mother she sees me working hard, she knows the basics of what is right and wrong, and that she has clear boundaries as being far more important in helping her to fulfill her full potential. Parents choose what boundaries to give their children, but banning pink strikes me as a childish and arbitrary decision - why shouldnt a child be able to enjoy pink fairy wings.

Health and Safety Corner

In the radio I heard a story about a passanger on a train that was delayed. He went to the buffet car to ask for an egg roll. He was told that he was not allowed one for "health and safety reasons". When asked what those reasons were he was told that he couldnt have his egg roll because there might have to be an emergency evacuation and he might choke on it! A sign of the times that we live in. What this story shows is not only a complete lack of customer service, presumably by someone for whom that is part of the requirements of their job - but the fact that Health and Safety has become a by word for ridiculous decisions.