DIARY - Hello, Hello,
Date: 2007-05-02 11:39:34
Author: Pat Kent
It's good to sort of be back again.
Well after being off-line for about a week I can honestly say how crap it is not to have broadband or internet access available. I can't subscribe to the addicts who play games on-line and live in their virtual world instead of real life, but I have missed it nevertheless.
For those who may be remotely interested our house move went reasonably well, the removals guys did a hard job pretty well, nothing seems to be lost but then again I have two lorry loads of boxes to check out and whilst stuff may not be lost some of it appears missing in that not everything ended up in the right room despite our meticulous labelling regime.
My first gripe of the week though must go to BT, we moved to a house which previously had three phone lines and we wanted our two transferred. Despite assurances to the contrary, they managed to get my office number in the house and the house number in the office….then they said they wanted £330 to put it right, luckily, a friend who was data networking the place for me, suggested we route the lines via the switch, and hey presto, lines in the right places without pain, without BT and without the need to unnecessarily fork out 330 quid.
My second gripe without doubt goes to Virgin Media, who have taken 15 days to switch my broadband service. Instant access? High speed connections? Don’t kid me, it still comes down to someone filling out a form at Virgin and posting it to someone else at BT and BT ignoring it. All it takes to enable a line is to throw a switch, so why does it take so long, especially since we weren’t changing numbers or exchange areas. The reason is BT are competing with Virgin, and vice versa, so they simply don’t co-operate with one another, stuff the customer, we just pay for the [non] service. It’s pathetic.
Now, onto my list of other high ranking contenders.
Parents with kids in restaurants. What possesses these prats to think that going to a restaurant on a Sunday lunchtime or any other time allows them the right to abdicate responsibility for the behaviour of their sprogs and allow them to run riot in and around the place while others are trying to enjoy a meal I possibly a kid-free environment. Selfish middle class pillocks; all of them.
They sit there reading their “Independent on Sunday” protesting at the intolerance of this regime or that regime, while their kids subjugate entire dining halls of eaters as they run around tables, swing off of chairs, handrails, diners and the occasional waiter. My brother and his partner treated us and a few friends to lunch at ROAST in The Borough Market last Sunday, very nice it was too, only being marred by the family of gonks next to us who seemed unaware that their unattractive off-spring were spending most of their time playing on a flight of stairs much to the annoyance of diners and staff.
This occurrence isn’t rare, it happens in most restaurants nowadays, whether it’s Pizza Hut or somewhere substantially more up market. I could blame the staff and management but won’t, although they could have a discrete word with itinerant families now and then, the fault lies squarely with the parents, or more precisely those genetically responsible for little Damien, Edward, Emily Rosebud or Sienna, or whatever their bloody names are. These people have no awareness of other people, the “me” generation has spawned and guess what? They only care about themselves, not even their broods.
I love kids but unfortunately the parents seem to come as an unnecessary option. If you have kids take some responsibility and control and start to consider their impact others around you. The sooner we get to population control the better. No smoking restaurants?
The day someone opens a No Kids restaurant I’ll be there like a shot.
All the best
Pat Kent
© Pat Kent 2007 – All rights reserved. Pat Kent exercises his right to be identified as the author.