This is driving me crazy.
I get excited everytime a new 'Tapas Bar' sign comes up as my favourite food is tapas but invariably upon perusing the menu I discover it is not at all a tapas restaurant, just an establishment owned by a restauranteur with no respect for his product or own integrity. Normally you find dishes such as 'bowl of olives with herbs' alongside 'foccacia bread and hummous'.
This Friday was the worst instance of misrepresentation I have thus far come across. Under a huge 'NEW TAPAS BAR' sign, came a short list of example dishes...
'Lattes, croissant, panini'
For FUCK'S sake. No even at a STRETCH could you claim it to be tapas.
Women with large prams
Like this one.
It's entirely, unnecessarily large. It's about five or six times as big as its inhabitant. It's my belief this trend of oversized prams stems from the same place that the urge to buy a Porsche four by four does. Which I also have no truck with.
It's not necessary to cosset a baby in a truck or drive one unless you are moving large mounds of earth.
It's an extension of our label-obsessed culture, conspicious-consumption society and its entirely selfish. You can't MOVE down the street for the things. And to add salt to the wounds.. mothers inevitably get cross and make some snidey remark at other pedestrians for getting in THEIR way!!
A particular question posed by a waitress at Negresco restaurant this Saturday
It was the inaugural 'Hen night without a hen' and my chosen restaurant was the fantastically decorated Negresco... chosen because the decor matched with my latest corset purchase :))))))
Fortunately the food was excellent so I wasn't berated for my ridiculous basis for choosing.
An excellent restaurant in all respects with the exception of the fact the waitress asked Meghna, who had ordered swordfish, 'How would you like that done?'
Meghna... after an understandable period of perplexedness responded haltingly, 'Medium??'.
Someone needs to take the nice waitress in hand.
And now, lest you harbour the erroneous belief I am only filled with conniption ( :)))) ) I shall detail those things which have pleased me of late.
The women with the sling
Today, I travelled back from Manchester and was gladdened in my heart to see a sensible lady hoiking her infant around in a sling. It wasn't even a specifically-designed baby sling. It was just a large rug-type affair she has wrapped around her allowing her to strap the infant on her back, thus enabling her to move with minimum intrusion throughout the public highways of the City of Manchester.
My inability to network
This should perhaps come under the banner of 'things that annoy' me but the latest exemplification of my ineptness in this corporate skill made a colleague and I laugh so it has to come here.
Usually finding it difficult to engage on an acceptably 'corporate-level' I dread attending networking events and the trauma of honing in on a suitable topic of convrsation I can genuinely enjoy engaging in (I think this is my downfall - I think you aren't meant to enjoy it, only PRETEND you do... I'm pretty awful at 'pretending' too though, so even that realisation doesn't help matters.) UNusually, I came across someone who I did have an interesting conversation with. A young psychotherapist specialising in existential psychotherapy.
So we had a nice chat about Camus and Sartre (and of course Freud - you just HAVE to) and how their ideas are applied in a psychotherapeutic way.
Upon exiting the networking event, I spotted the therapist so went over, tapped him on his shoulder, told him I was leaving and that it was nice to meet him and good luck in his latest endeavours (was setting up a business of his own) I left feeling especially pleaseed with myself at how smooth I had been, not only in engaging a 'colleague' for half an hour pleasantly but also being so careful as to 'finish' the network professionally.
I turned to note to my friend/colleague Claire, who had accompanied me as I said my professional farewell, that the therapist had looked strangely at me when I went to say goodbye and pondered on why this could be. Claire indulgently explained that my networking efforts were much noted but that perhaps next time, I should make sure I said goodbye to the same man I had been taking to in the first place, and not some random stranger who didn't know me from Adam.
Much unprofessional giggling ensued.
A wordy website
Drawn to my attention by a fellow linguaphile:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/
Isobel Faye Higgs
My new little cousin. And I'm so PLEASED it's a girl! MORE girls in the family! Whooo-hooo!
10 comments:
Just like being back in our grim lounge in Hartley Grove!
Looking forward to the next installment.
I too have been bitterly disappointed with the sheer lack of understanding when it comes to the word tapas!
Luce
When you push a baby around it's very difficult to carry anything else e.g. shopping or even a modest sized handbag. The roomy pram makes allowance for this.
Also young babies often sleep in their prams given their need for around 14 hours sleep in every 24 even at age one (and much more when first born). It's vital for back and bone development that baby can lie flat. A poky pram is unlikely to provide the necessary comfort.
It's not label obessive. It's not unnecssary. You just don't understand because you've never had to use a pram regularly.
Congrats on the arrival of your cousin by the way.
But isn't that why the sling is better? Your arms are free - it's so much more practical as you CAN then have your bags etc. And according to the 'Kangaroo child-rearing' or 'Natural child-rearing' methodology, using hand-held and then sling is far better for the baby.
(Yes, I just wanted to slip in the fact there is a method called The Kangaroo' :))) )
I would also say that in my two years living in Lisbon, I never ONCE saw a large pram and the babies there seemed just as happy and well-developed as their English cousins. Mostly women CARRIED their babies in their arms whilst young enough/light enough to do so. Even when travelling on public transport. Once they became heavier, they used the sling.
I always thought it seemed quite lovely doing that.
Thanks on Girl-Cus BTW.
Guess how much she weighed.... ELEVEN POUNDS!!!!!!
As if giving birth isn't hideous enough with an eight pound bundle!!!
11 pounds!! Oh my GOD! Did she come out on a skateboard asking to go to Macdonalds? That's HUGE!
You've gone all quiet at work now you're busy. I miss your funny random ramblings when you come over to our workstation looking for nibbles or to borrow a swipe card... I'm going to complain that you're being overworked.
Cig-buddie x
Well, for ONE Debs (?) I have had my swipe card on me for TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT now!!!!! My all time record! Where's my medal? I'm making a concerted effort and need rewards like a child to encourage my good behaviour.
TWO... every bugger and his business wants to sell before the 5th. I AM being over-worked... or just worked even :)
As a father to be I find your pram comments anonsense. The baby has 3 months of incubation time left and my poor wife is suffering with a bad back but you expect her to be carrying around baby plus essential baby care items plus tesco shopping after giving birth.
It's not labels that make prams bigger, it's a desire to make our lives that litle bit easier, and why shouldn't we!
Are you seriously unable to move a little to the side for a pram? Its not exactly hard work is it? Your probably too busy rushing around with all the other wage slaves and expect that everyone should make room for you.
Why not wait until you've actually experienced something before commenting on it.
By the way, whts 'Tapas'?
Dear Anon,
I have only just discovered your post so apologies for the delay in response.
In response to your comment:
“It's not labels that make prams bigger, it's a desire to make our lives that little bit easier.”
I still don’t understand why the bigger the pram, the better the pram. Just like when choosing a car for urban climes as opposed to country, the more compact, the better – it enables the driver to navigate more quickly, more efficiently and more precisely. Additionally, surely all pram-drivers are aware of the [reasonable or no] responses of other pedestrians, and this would welcome the chance to reduce the anxiety caused by friction when on a public outing.
With respect to your point ‘wait until you’ve actually experienced it’, I have never experienced a good plethora of things, such as capital punishment, voting Labour, putting my hand in scolding water, but I need not experience any of these things first hand to use my analytics to pass opinion the pros and cons of each action. Perhaps when i have had further experience of the world, i will pass a different judgment, but for now, my judgement is given from the eyes of a non-mother pedestrian who owns as much right to an opinion as any other fellow human being.
PS: "Tapas" is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapas
The key is SPANISH. THE worst I saw recently was - and this is utterly, utterly unbelievable - an INDIAN - restaurant - an INDIAN - restaurant - seLling a TAPAS menu, INDIAN TAPAS!!!!!!!!
WTF!!!!!!!!!!
Slings are bollocks once the baby is more than a couple of months old. Back hurts, baby can't see, baby learns that it should be held all the time rather than sometimes be independent of mother.
Big prams rock. Baby is comfy and has nice bed or a nice view (depending on age). Mother is comfortable too and all shopping fits in basket rather than dangling off handles and making buggy tip backwards.
Also, don't little kids have an equal right to some pavement space as adults?
Can't let this one lie.
Zarrine
Tee hee, Zaza - was Jon the Anon? I suspected it was and so muted my responses :)))
I shall say no more lest you refuse entry to me at your 30th ;)
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