Bits of inequality and oddness.

Yesterday we went out to lunch en famille. Well, almost en famille. This was the northern end of the family. The southerners are still down south, no doubt doing southern bank holiday stuff. Phil didn’t go because he was playing chess. The teenagers didn’t go, one because he ‘couldn’t be bothered to have a shower and get dressed’ and the other because we were going to Manchester and she ‘doesn’t do Manchester’.

So there was me, my daughter, her partner, the eldest granddaughter and the youngest granddaughter, who goes almost everywhere her mother goes. En famille - sort of. After some discussion we ate Lebanese. Very good!

In the car en route for Manchester my daughter’s partner and the eldest granddaughter (not his child) were doing some bonding, talking about computer games. This was largely sparked by a poster for one of the games-related films and led on to some negative comments about the new version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Most of this went over my head, but when the conversation moved on to Star Wars characters, I was able to participate finally with a reminder that Chewbacca was dead.

Not the actual Chewbacca, who still lives within the Star Wars world as far as I know, but Peter Mayhew, the 7 feet 3 inches tall actor who played the Wookie in the film. He died of a heart attack the other day, aged 74. This pulled me up short. The ages of deceased actors are coming within my range. Not very encouraging!

However, the eldest granddaughter went on to tell us that it is a scientific fact that unusually tall people die younger than normal sized folk. We scoffed at this and accused her of making it up. When I got home later, though, I did some research and found this.

There you go. Granddaughter number one is crowing a little!

Another unusual person is Caster Semenya, the female athlete with too much testosterone. All her life she had to prove she is female. Very degrading, I should think. Now new rules are saying she has to take medication to reduce her testosterone before taking part in athletics events. Here is the response of someone who wrote to the newspapers:-

 “Some children are born with a natural aptitude for numeracy, or for art, or for music. This aptitude must nonetheless be honed through hard work and application. Scientists have not yet identified any singular genes which may influence this, but they may in the future. Will we then insist that such children are medicated to counteract their genetIc makeup, in order to ensure that fairness exists in the highly competitive environment of the academic and artistic worlds?” 

I am reminded of a science-fiction story I read long ago where people with any kind of talent were made to carry handicaps of some kind so that everyone was “truly” equal!

Here’s another oddity: a nurse who works for the NHS ran the London Marathon in uniform, hoping to make it into the Guinness book of records. Guinness World Records has recognised records of marathon runners dressed like a telephone box, a star and a crustacean, among many others. This wrongly dressed nurse finished in a time of 3:08:22, but was told that she did not qualify for the record because she wore medical scrubs. Nurses are supposed to wear a blue or white dress, an apron and a white nurses cap.

She said: “I was quite taken aback when I read that they’d rejected my application and I did email them to ask them to reconsider but they said no. Some of the nurses I work with do wear dresses but mostly we wear scrubs or a tunic and trousers. I’ve certainly never seen a male nurse wearing a dress to work.”

A bit of adverse publicity works wonders and Guinness World Records have said they will review the application!

And finally this:- Camden council plans to ban ice cream vans in parts of the borough. The problem is they keep their engines running so their fridges stay cold. Thus they emit black carbon and nitrogen dioxide. But there are those who think ice cream vans will continue because “queuing half ironically for an ice cream is an amusement in demand at weddings and corporate events”.

Who knew?