Drinks!
A very good afternoon to you all. I have been asked by several (well, two, actually) followers for my thoughts on the latest government guidelines on drinking. I have thought long and hard about the official advice that men should reduce their maximum units from 21 to 14, in line with the recommended maximum units for women. Now, my first thought was that 14 units a day was ample, whether male or female, but I then realised that the recommendation was 14 units a WEEK! A WEEK! Good grief, how on earth do they imagine that ‘ordinary, working class people’ will manage on that?
You have to consider that a normal, stressful Monday will require the consumption of at least 4 units at the end of the day and that Fabulous Friday feeling will require a further four, perhaps even five, to fuel you for the weekend. This leaves you with, at most, six units for the whole weekend. Now, assuming that you wish to enjoy your Saturday night, this will demand another four units, which leaves you with two units for Sunday and nothing for the remaining weekdays. How will one cope with Tearful Tuesday, Woeful Wednesday and Thoroughly Miserable Thursday?
Raise Up
On top of that, the government has spent years trying to give parity between men and women in terms of pay and pensions by raising women’s salaries and women’s pension age to come in line with men’s. Why, suddenly, have they decided to bring men DOWN to the women’s level? That is just so UNFAIR? Raise women UP, don’t bring men DOWN!
And on that note of bringing men or women down or up (a fairly tenuous link, I must admit), I’m afraid I have to express some concern at an acquaintance (who may or may not be small and from Yorkshire and mentioned in previous posts) who cast doubt on the LSG’s ability to answer quiz questions. WHAT??? This was in spite of the fact that I had introduced him to pizzas without cheese (since he is allergic to it) and it was the first time he’d ever eaten a pizza. ‘INGRATITUDE is the worst of vices’, according to that well known 17th-century clergyman
Quiz Team
Thomas Fuller, so imagine how hurt I was when I (casually) mentioned that I had (unexpectedly) answered 12-15 questions correctly on a Christmas edition of University Challenge, including ones that the teams didn’t get right, and the Tiny Tyke (TT for short) said that everyone knows the questions on Celebrity Mastermind are easier. Followers, I gave him my TEACHER LOOK and said, coldly, ‘University Challenge, TT, NOT Celebrity Mastermind.’ Silence followed as he chewed at his cheeseless pizza.
A similar thing happened at the local pub quiz last night. The category was countries whose names ended in a vowel and the question was ‘Which country’s nickname is the ‘Hexagon’?’ Any teacher of French will know the answer straight away and I whispered the answer to TT to write down, but imagine my surprise when someone next to us (not taking part in the quiz and who, so I’m told, speaks several languages but clearly doesn’t ‘do’ geography) whispered ‘Belgium’. ‘Nice one’, said TT, ‘Thanks.’ and he started to write down ‘Belgium’. I pointed out to TT that a) my answer of France was correct, b) Belgium doesn’t end in a vowel and c) it doesn’t resemble a hexagon in any way.
I am all for EQUALITY – I just wish everyone else was! Enjoy Monday and your four units and remember – the Government is always right, even when it’s wrong.