Sunday 29 December 2013

"Everyone was having fun and then an official in a high-visibility jacket came over..."

...which surely is, as MacHeath points out, the sentence that sums up most of 2013, isn't it?
“They said we couldn’t have two Santas in one Christmas market because it would traumatise the children.
“It was absolute nonsense. I couldn’t believe it.
“We were not collecting any money or breaking any rules, we were just there to entertain the children.”
The notion that children from Canvey Island, of all places, might be traumatised by two Santa Clauses (Clausii?) might just cause you to choke on a mince pie...
“I didn’t get the feeling the council wanted to do it or cause any trouble, because we work with them very closely, but they had been scared into doing by some objectors.
“It was such a shame because the people at GMD supplies worked really hard to make the sleigh look fantastic.”
That just sums up so much, doesn't it?

10 comments:

Rickie said...

There were 6 Santa's elves in the local co-op on xmas eve.

Spare a thought for the traumatised because this can last for decades, take Freemen Lawful Rebellion types who still won't accept their names, dates of birth etc, because their mothers lied about Santa.

John Pickworth said...

The problem here isn't so much with those in fluorescent jackets, but with those that comply with the nonsense.

I'd have told the official to f'off. Lets see the council lawyers burn some midnight oil looking up the statutes on Santa Regulations (1885).

Robert the Biker said...

Quite so, what John said...
The correct response to these jobsworths and hand-wringers is:
Piss Off, Right.Fucking.Now

Longrider said...

Someone from the town council came over and said we had to take everything down and tell all the children to leave, but I refused.

The appropriate response when dealing with bullying jobsworths. We need to do this frequently and with firmness until they get the message. It might take a while, of course.

Antisthenes said...

"but they had been scared into doing by some objectors."

If you wanted evidence apart from the vast amount already available that democracy is dead this is it. Gone are the days that it was by majority consent that we were governed and rules and laws were laid down. It now appears those rules and laws are now decided by those who are the most aggressive, vociferous and are the most intellectually challenged who more often than not are a minority group with some invested interest or are unreasonably indignantly righteous.

Anonymous said...

Stonyground says:
Check out this brilliant jobsworth story from the "Angry people in local newspapers" blog.
http://apiln.blogspot.co.uk/
As the caption says, the comments are merciless.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing it wasn't 3 Santas, otherwise they would have sent in the "armed response team" complete with assault rifles, flak jackets and stun grenades. Y'know, to prevent the children from being traumatized.

Rickie said...

Just to be fair regarding Freemen Lawful Rebellion types.

For matters concerned with Probate and wills and also NS&I Premium Bonds, freeman reluctantly accept their given names and their birth certificate are genuine.

JuliaM said...

"...but with those that comply with the nonsense. "

Yes, sadly for every Colin Letchford there's a thousand 'Oh well, better do as he says' cowards... :/

"It might take a while, of course."

Sadly, they can always count on the compliance of the cowed.

"As the caption says, the comments are merciless."

Comment sections in local newspapers can often surprise you! And sometimes confirm your suspicions about your fellow man.

Sometimes in the same story!

"Just to be fair regarding Freemen Lawful Rebellion types."

There are stranger beliefs...

Carol said...

Far from being traumatised, if there had been two Santas in the 1960s department stores of my childhood, I would have been over the moon with sheer delight!