Immoral and Obscene?

In this year of recession, with some families struggling to put a meal on the table, never mind being able to afford their utility bills and mortgages, it seems obscene for thousands to be holding down two or more jobs. Of course, as I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s been happening at the top for years, with guys who are on the Boards of various companies companies etc, but what we should realise is that it’s happening across the whole employment spectrum. I was reminded of it yet again this morning, when I heard a radio show being plugged, along with its new presenter, who earns a good salary already as a teacher. As the show starts whilst he is still supposed to be imparting knowledge to his pupils, obviously the show has been recorded beforehand. It is still on air as he drives home, comfortable in the knowledge that his bank account is being increased, whilst others (some of whom are perfectly able to present the above mentioned radio show) are at home, wondering how they will manage to cope with the next week’s bills. Immoral, unethical? I certainly think so. Remember – he is only one of thousands in this situation.

 

I’m not sure if recession is to blame for the next incident or not. I happened to be at a wedding reception for some 180 guests a couple of weeks ago, and as I hadn’t been out for a meal in the preceding few months, I starved myself all day, in anticipation of a lovely meal being set in front of me. I chose soup for my starter dish – I deliberately haven’t mentioned what type of soup, as I’m still trying to figure that one out. There were about five spoonfuls of coloured water, with some bodies floating about it, which I assumed to be lentils, or something closely related to them. Suffice it to say that I don’t think even Oliver Twist would have asked for a second helping. The service was at snail’s pace, and by the time the main course appeared, I’d nearly forgotten if I’d had the soup or not. I had opted for roast beef – it certainly wasn’t roast, and I’m not too sure if it was beef, as it was nearly impossible to eat. In fact, on first inspection, I thought it hadn’t even paid a visit to the abattoir. The meat was still pink, and so tough that I wished there was a hardware shop nearby where I could purchase a Stanley knife, or maybe a mini hacksaw. The few vegetables accompanying the meat were also very much undercooked, and the gravy looked as if it was the soup, without the lentil lookalikes. I’ve wondered since then if the hotel was trying to save money by cutting down on the cooking times, thus their gas or electricity bills, or was it a case of the chef, if there was one, having arrived late, and dishing out the stuff partially cooked, so that we wouldn’t be having the meal at breakfast time the next morning.

 

Of course, it’s been said that every cloud has a silver lining, and that was true in this case, as there were no post wedding cases of food poisoning reported, seeing folk hadn’t been able to digest anything in the first place.