Sideswipe: What - no picture of Kanye West?

Kid loves his dog

A reader writes: "My two-year-old attempts to hide the family dog in various places in his room so that the dog can sleep in there with him. So far, I've found the dog in the closet, behind the curtains, surrounded by stuffed animals to "blend in," and on numerous occasions I've walked in the room to see a giant mound under the comforter at the foot of the bed. My son is astonished every single time that I have not only found the dog, but was even looking for him in the first place. On more than one occasion he even attempted to persuade me that he didn't even know we had a dog."

Sugarfree fibs

According to the BBC show Quite Interesting, although sugar makes up more than 90 per cent of a Tic Tac, the small sweets are labelled "sugar-free" in the United States. The agency which regulates these matters reasons that because each mint weighs just 0.49g then brands can say there are 0g of an ingredient if it amounts to less than 0.5g per serving. This is why something can list 0 per cent sugar in the context of the recommended serving when one of the main ingredients is sugar.

Honey, let's do something different in the bathroom...

The fight against patriarchy chicken

Susan Howard writes: "One last solution which always works for me.  I have worked in town for about four years and regularly encountered young confident men walking towards me. I found that when I see someone bearing down on me with no intention of giving way I just stop dead in my tracks and wait for them to sidestep me. It works every time."

Matriarchal aisle hogging

John from Green Bay wades in: "Never mind patriarchy..what about matriarchy in supermarkets? This is where women (exclusively!) park their trolley on one side of an aisle but stand on the other side to make their selection, effectively blocking the aisle."

The annoying meal question

"When I was a child and was visiting my grandmother, she would tell us that lunch was dry bread and scenery, and a gallop round the house", writes Raven from Flaxmere. "So, we would have to run around the house if we asked what was for lunch.  But we never got the dry bread - it was usually roast beef. It didn't work on my own children." Barbara Shepheard remembers her old family response to this annoying lunch question: "Dead dog and custard."