Walkie talkies give me the absolute willies

FROM MY CORNER .... with Ann Brunswick

One of the most annoying developments in this age of mobile phones is the problem posed to others by those who walk and text at the same time. I find it to be simply a pain to have to share footpaths and other public spaces with people who have no eye on where they are heading.

Most pedestrians, like me, are forced to change course or accommodate them in some other way. But sometimes they are their own worst enemy. Take for example the young chap standing next to me at a busy intersection waiting for the lights to change and cross. He was focussed entirely on texting on his mobile phone and when the lights did change, accompanied by the audible signal for the vision-impaired, he stepped off the footpath. But he did not realise the signal was for pedestrians crossing at right angles to the direction he was going.
Just as it seemed to me he needed to be grabbed and dragged back to the footpath, he looked up to se cars bearing down on him. He retreated swiftly but if he moved much further his trajectory would have certainly put him in harm's way. This is a growing problem and will certainly lead to injuries and the inevitable personal injury and insurance claims. So we can look forward to court cases where insurers or others will no doubt argue that injured pedestrians do not deserve compensation because they were not fulfilling their own duty of care to themselves.

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This is perhaps one for the “truth in advertising” file. The other night an advert screened on my TV for a chain of barbecued chicken outlets which, naturally, contained lots of shots of the mouth-watering contents of whatever bargain-priced family pack they were promoting.

This particular offer consisted of a chicken, of course, and some other tempting treats that included a tub of peas. And what luscious, plump and bright green peas they were. Not only that, you could see the steam coming of them which made me want to rush out and bypass all the 3-D flatscreen TVs now on offer and lodge an order for the first smellovision version.
But suddenly it dawned on me that maybe the makers of the ad may not be reflecting reality. You see not only did the tub of peas look very consumable, it was also so full of the squishy little green balls that they formed a pyramid whose pinnacle was well above the top of the tub itself.
Does that particular chicken chain really sell you tubs of peas that contain far more than the tubs can hold? Or – heaven forbid – are there some in the advertising game who stretch the truth a bit!