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Sonia Baldwin thinks children on trains should be made to stand up when there are adult passengers standing, and wrote to MAXX Regional Transport to complain.
"This has not been happening for some time and I was wondering if this was now not the case, since the trains have changed ownership? When you mention this to the ticket collectors they just shrug their shoulders and move on.
Can you please let me know what the policy is with regards to people travelling on a child fare compared to those people travelling on an adult fare?" MAXX contacted Veolia Transport, the company which operates the trains, who relayed their modern way of thinking: "This is a gesture of courtesy on the student's behalf, not a regulation in Veolia Transport's Conditions of Carriage policy. Veolia Transport staff can request that students stand for adults, but as paying customers, students also have the right to a seat."
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The messages in fortune cookies are typically vague, banal and optimistic. But some cookies are now serving up some surprisingly frank advice, including:
"Today is a disastrous day. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
"It's over your head now. Time to get some professional help."
"Perhaps you focus on yourself too much."
Bernard Chow of Wonton Food says he had not set out to insult anybody when he asked his team of freelance writers to come up with some new messages. "We wanted to get some different perspective, to write something that is more contemporary," he told the New York Times.
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For obvious reasons, Barbie has never been a great role model for girls, but this product is a new kind of dubious for Mattel. The Barbie Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique Playset is a clothing shop that comes with a normal-sized, swipeable credit card.
But that's where the resemblance to reality ends, because this card doesn't have a limit. In the TV ad which plays to pre-schoolers, a little girl says "You never run out of money." (Source: Consumerist.com)
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Sideswipe received many letters of support for Britomart's loud speaker guy, Tua. A regular train-traveller from the "Eastside" writes: "I was lucky enough to have Tua on one of my morning commutes. The train was of course late (I always catch the one before the one that would get me to work on time). Passengers were already tense - and the strain of being late was escalated when we stopped in the Britomart tunnel to let other trains pass (brilliant piece of planning there!). However, Tua came on the train intercom and brightened our days with his fantastic morning greetings that definitely had everyone chuckling by the end. What a brilliant start to the day - all came off the train with huge grins. Bring him back to Britomart!"
Today's Video Webpick: A Sky News reporter smacks a bloke over the head with a shovel to demonstrate amazing shock absorbing material. You have to see it, to believe it. Watch it here. Scroll down. These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
