Three cases reported in our newspapers this week makes us wonder how we’re (the UK) looked at from aboard. What do they think of us?
A Co-op supervisor, aged 60, was sacked after 23 years service for giving a customer dying flowers for free. The customer was buying three bunches of flowers and wanted the almost dying carnations marked down at just 75p. At that stage the flowers were dying rapidly so the ex co-op lady gave them away, would you believe, without charge!
How much free publicity could they have bought with that 75p gift? Look at their PR now.
Then there’s the case of a lady who allowed her four year old to drop a morsel of sausage roll on to the ground. Birds even picked it up and eat it. Hull City council decided to charge her with an on the spot £75 fine for littering.
Copeland Borough Council had a man fined £210 for exceeding the wheelie bin load by just a little bit. He’s a guy who recycles all he can and put his rubbish in his bin. He now has a criminal record for putting his rubbish in his bin. Where should he have put it?
Sure we don’t want staff making up their minds what stock can be given away for free.
Sure we don’t want littering in our streets.
Sure we want to recycle more.
However, it needs the ‘common person’ to fight back against these ridiculous council decisions – no wonder the council tax is so high and out of context with the responsibility provided.
Common sense is sadly lacking in all these cases and represent the red tape mad UK we’re looking at from within. From outside they must think we’re slightly foolish.
Common sense involves having your will written as soon as you have assets or children.
Common sense is making sure your power of attorney is in place and ready for any illness or lack of capacity eventuality.
Common sense is having a pre-paid funeral plan so your relatives won’t have the pain and misery of guessing what you wanted just when they need to grieve.
But there’s more:
A Lady, 22, was taken to court by Manchester council in June, 2007, and fined £200 for not leaving her wheelie bin out for collection.
In October last year, a lady, 26, was ordered to pay £360 for leaving her bin in the wrong place, after being taken to court by Bolton council.
A young man, 84, of Boston, Lincs, was accused of fly-tipping and fined £75 in October 2007 after leaving a carrier bag in a lamp-post bin rather than wait 10 days for his fortnightly waste collection.
Get a grip, UK!
Filed under: News
Common sense, as they say, is apparently no that common at all. Nice post.
Sometimes you have to know when flexibility is needed. It seems that many councils haven’t discovered this.