Why is it fine to make fun of the name Luigi Wewege but not Sheila Dikshit?
Martin explains: "First up, there is an enormous amount of sanctioned racism against Indians in New Zealand. For a TV host to say about a state representative, 'Dick in shit, it's appropriate because she is Indian', is an unbelievable breach and slander on Indians in New Zealand from the position of a state broadcaster. I haven't seen all the Luigi coverage, but he's coming from, I believe, a position of privilege within NZ society and has well and truly put himself in the public eye with dubious behaviour. Dikshit was a foreign dignitary representing a country and a community."
All fingers and thumbs
Helen writes: "Our 20-year-old son was telling us a story about a friend of his who had to walk a long way home after Rhythm and Vines last year as he had run out of petrol. My husband asked why he didn't use his thumb (as in hitching). My son replied, 'His phone was flat'. Guess it's a sign of the times."
Don't mix your pills and tablets
A reader writes: "About a year ago a colleague was on a regional Air New Zealand flight and was puzzled when the hostess asked the passengers to please stow all pills and laptops before take-off. This happened again when they were coming into land. He related this odd experience to his wife when he got home. She was obviously a bit more tech-savvy than him and suggested that the flight attendant must have meant tablets!"
Double standards in workshop
"When I worked in a vehicle franchise, the workshop boys had the nude calendar in their workspace for years. However, times changed and one of my female staff complained to me about it. The guys refused to take it down so we pasted clothing on to each page. Unfortunately the glue wasn't the best so the guys peeled them off! We then put a pic of a partly clothed male behind the door in our office and the complaints we got from the men was really something! Talk about double standards, but I feel we did make a point."
Stroller goes walkabout
