November 2009
You may have seen a recent advertisement in the Chelmsford Weekly News for a Chinese restaurant. It proclaimed in large letters "Lunch £5.99 - Children £3.50". It reminded me of a quip a former colleague of mine used to make: "I love children, but I couldn't possibly eat a whole one."
There are other adverts and notices that make me smile, like the signs you sometimes see on buildings that proclaim "These premises are alarmed." I can't help asking myself why. Who has managed to get the building scared and what about?
Then there is the office in Victoria Road which has a discreet sign on the door reading "Youth Offending Team". Whoever would have thought that someone would want to get together a whole team of people just to offend youths? I'm pretty sure that it can be done far more simply!
I realise, of course, that my colleague's quip never was in good taste* and that the Youth Offending Team has a very important and serious task. The point is that I have to keep reminding myself that the people I speak to could take the things I say in a completely different sense from the one I intended. Particular care has to be taken when talking to someone who is vulnerable. I know that I am too prone to cracking inane jokes when other people do not feel in the mood for humour. Perhaps we should all put ourselves in the place of the hearer before speaking.
By the way, CHESS was going to give a staff member the title "Night Services Manager" but decided this could be seriously misunderstood!
* I hope that pun was unintended! - Webmaster