Sideswipe: Time lapse

A reader from Whakatane was perplexed by this headline in the Eastern Bay News. 'One man's 500 years of service ... wait, what? Oh, they mean decades,' he says. Photo / Supplied

What a gas ... honestly

Dave went into the GAS petrol station on SH17 at Dairy Flat, just north of Auckland, last week to buy diesel for his car. "The manager approached me and said, 'I remember you, I think we overcharged you about three weeks ago. I think you may have paid for someone else's petrol rather than your diesel. Do you keep your receipts?' I dug out the receipt for that day and found I had been charged for 91 unleaded rather than diesel. I would never have noticed. The manager then took $23.10 from the cash register and reimbursed me. How about that for honesty and great service?"

Bus stop

Allison writes: "Bus drivers need to be careful. The other night, I saw a driver exercising behind the bus shelter at Britomart (good idea if you put the brakes on the bus). Next thing he looks up to find his bus has started moving, with passengers on board. I have never seen anyone run so fast, and yes, he managed to stop the bus before it mounted the pavement."

Bad mouth, bad image

Rhys from the North Shore wonders if a construction company has the legal right to close the footpath? "If so, why do they employ an aggressive Mike Tyson look-a-like (shortened version with wrap-around shades) to police it. The bloke I encountered on Quay St eyeballs you face to face and growls, 'The footpath is closed, so f*** off'. When this didn't work in my case, his approach was to shoulder and push. Still didn't work ... What a laughable advertisement for the construction company, which obviously can't find anyone with public relations skills or a vocabulary to do this job."

Inside, not outside

Last week, a reader submitted a picture of a van advertising the service, "Adult Rehab & Daycare Centre" with a phone number. The reader said he "seriously considered ringing because of the screaming in the back seat ..." The screaming to which he was referring was coming from his own kids in his back seat, not from the van, which should have been made clearer.