Sunday, September 17, 2006
Midland Mainline's Buffet Service
Last Wednesday I caught the 07:30 from Wellingborough to St Pancras operated by Midland Mainline.
I was off to the Tower of London on a software beano at the behest of the MD so thought I'd risk the train. Anyhow, we get on and the guard - sorry train manager - welcomes us aboard, then the tea maker - sorry buffet manager - comes on and announces...
"Welcome to the Midland Mainline service to London St Pancras.
We have a wide selection of sandwiches, pastires and soft drinks but unfortunately we have run out of paper bags.
This means, for reasons of health and safety, we cannot serve hot drinks in case you spill them on the way back to your seats."
Two issues here...
1.0 Has anyone ever managed to get a seat having caught the London train from Wellingborough at 7.30am before?
2.0 We all know that paper is heat resistant and the emergenct services use it to make firemans uniforms out of to protect them when fighting fires. What can I be thinking....
There was a pereptipal undercurrent of muttering in the carriage. A rather well-to-do type stood next to me - well I was guarding the first class loo he was about to use - summed it nicely with an utterance of "bo**ocks!".
Now you may say that it is very laudible of the Buffet Manager (wtf...you make sandwiches and pour tea, love) to think of us and apply the umbrella of health and safety, but when we got to St Pancas there was a stampede from the train up the over-crowded platform to an Italian cofee emporium where we purchased our fancy brew's on got onto the Tube with them...far more crowded there as you can imagine.
Lack of common sense rating: 10.0
It's not a H&S issue carrying a cup of tea, it's a common sense issue....and when did char ladies become manager's?
