Sideswipe: November 8: Can you speak Australian?

Photo / Supplied

Classified in a US newspaper. (Via Criggo)

Lingerie firm makes boob

A Scandinavian lingerie firm has come under fire from unions after apparently making employees wear tags displaying their breast size. Staff at Change in Sweden say they are fed up with men in the store commenting on the size of their breasts. The tags were designed to help shoppers find the right size when buying a gift. Bosses now say the tag is voluntary and unions say female staff could sue the firm, adding that men selling underwear are not forced to wear a badge with their size.

Respect our roses

"I lived in Beijing for a long time and how I longed to walk and sit on the grassed areas they began cultivating there in my time. But a sign said 'No walking on the grass' so I didn't," writes a reader. "On Saturday at the Parnell Rose Gardens, they looked so pretty and were a joy to walk around. However, it was very disheartening to see people of Asian descent walking over the gardens pulling at buds, some with plant bits getting broken off. C'mon people, it was obvious to see the locals weren't doing that, surely you could have shown a greater regard for our beautiful gardens."

Sincerely, New Zealand Post

Despite many more readers agreeing with Sharron about the mail being particularly slow at the moment, NZ Post PR John Tulloch says that in the past year, out of the 800 million items of mail, 95.5 per cent arrived within the specified delivery target. "Just 0.1 per cent of those hundreds of millions of pieces of mail arrived three or more days outside the target," he says.

One in two won't do

One reader wonders if parts of Christchurch are getting only partial mail service. "I have been expecting an item for the previous two weeks so have been watching carefully for the postie. On Saturday no postie arrived and no one else in our street got post. It seems they are delivering to our area only once every two days. Many homes have been abandoned but families do still live here."

On your bike ...

The TelstraClear Challenge has offered less prize money for female cyclists. One reader says the obvious question is how many men and how many women are entering. "If there are only half as many women, then half as much prize money seems fair - the same amount per person," he says. And turning a blind eye to the differences on physicality, another declares: "The only fair arrangement would be where the prize money goes to the first few finishers in the race, regardless of gender."