Thumping the staff...

...is always wrong, but why is it that the only places you see signs that say "Please don't punch our staff - we always prosecute" are where the customer service is crap to begin with. Examples include:

• Railway stations


• Onboard trains


• Airports


• GP surgeries


• Post Offices

and of course Royal Mail sorting offices. I had a parcel to collect from the main sorting office in Birmingham today, and saw no fewer than three signs saying "don't thump the staff". Fat chance - can hardly find the buggers. Twas a long queue and no-one serving. Eventually some shabby looking character in a high vis jacket (don't they all wear these now) turned up. Not the best advert for the dear old Royal Mail... anyone would think that they had become sloppy through lack of competition.



But this sign really made me laugh - even the bloody trade unions have to get their oar in! Clearly it's always wrong to thump someone, but if they wear the union tie, it's a whole lot worse!










Funnily enough, I've never seen a sign like that (the punching one, not the Wilkommen one) in John Lewis or Marks & Spencer. Perhaps people don't thump the staff there as the customer service is much better. Funny that.

Why is it these days...

...that when you hear two people having a conversation, the person listening will invariably keep saying "yeah yeah yeah" as the other person speaks? I know it's intended to indicate that they are engaged in the conversation, but it always sounds as though they are being somewhat dismissive of what the speaker is saying. I hear this all the time: "yeah yeah yeah". Please, please stop!

Have people no manners any more? Or do a large proportion of the UK population have some kind of nervous tic that causes them to say "yeah yeah yeah" entirely involuntarily? Is it just a Birmingham thing? Or is it just me being pedantic?

It seemed a lot funnier when these guys did it:

Why is it...

...that when men are getting changed at the gym, they find it necessary to whistle tunelessly? I've never understood what makes fellow males feel the need to whistle when getting changed?

Any thoughts?