Sideswipe: Braced for pain...

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A reader writes: "My 5-year-old daughter recently came home from school with a bracelet, given to her by the local gymnastic club, who had visited the school to promote the club. Maybe it's me but I thought the message on the bracelet was a little twisted - 'Champions train, endure pain, and never complain'. Try explaining that to a 5-year-old - 'Hey honey, why don't you be a gymnast. It'll hurt but you can't tell anyone.' Is that really a message you want to promote? Seems a bit sick to me."

Plane confusing

A reader was confused after this exchange while flying from Sydney last weekend. "I was flying from Sydney to Auckland with Aerolineas Argentinas. Just after I got on the plane the lady in the seat behind me asked the stewardess for a blanket. The stewardess replied, 'I am sorry, ma'am, but we don't provide blankets on domestic flights.' The woman expressed surprise but didn't say any more. Surely their staff would know that Australia and New Zealand are two different countries."

No work, no man, no money

More coping with the Depression: The unemployment benefit, the dole, was financed by a levy on the wages of those in work. Women in work paid the levy like anyone else. Women out of work did not get the dole. The theory was that every woman had some man (father, husband, brother) who could support her, and if she hadn't, well, she jolly well should have.

Baking mystery revealed

In regard to the mystery advertisement, and pointed out by a number of readers - "the home of home baking is Bin Inn."

Frida exposed

Ron writes: "For some weeks I kept hearing on the radio, usually just before the news, a woman's voice saying 'Free Diwali'. I heard it so often I started wondering if it was some kind of political slogan encouraging us to support some downtrodden group. Then, finally all was revealed when a male voice came on one day and said, ' ... and here is Frida Wylie, with the news'."