The other night we dined in a fairly upmarket restaurant in Fulham - a first-class dinner, which we all enjoyed. After he had finished his rack of lamb (deliciously pink and tender), my son was left with the bones on his plate. He asked for a doggy-bag to take them home to our dog, who would greatly appreciate them. The sweet young waitress disappeared and came back after a few moments to say that "Health & Safety" would not allow this. The dog might suffer in some unspecified way from the bones and we might sue the restaurant - so no doggy bag.
What has happened to this country? Well, actually I know what has happened - 13 years of New Labour have produced a culture in which it is almost impossible to lead a normal life. The European Union has helped, with its mad rules and regulations, under which we struggle with remarkably little protest. The election of a Conservative government might help to change things, though it is by no means certain. Maybe things have just gone too far. Will there always be an England? With a heavy heart I am beginning to doubt it.
We wrapped the bones up ourselves and took them home with us, where they were indeed much enjoyed, to the benefit of the dog and the environment both.
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The stupidity of the restaurant is more to do with the diabolic combination of the law and the insurance companies than health and safety per se. My first instinct when I read a safety story is to sniff the wind for the reek of brimstone and to look for the trail of the cloven foot of a lawyer or an insurance agent.
ReplyDeleteI fear your hope of a Conservative government being any better than Labour may be misplaced. They're as stuffed full of lawyers and f**kwits who've never done a day's work outwith politics.
You are, of course, quite right. It all stems from insane awards made by American judges, and the opportunism of lawyers in this country. (And I think our judges are a lot to blame, too).
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