Why the "British Empire" is no more!

Do you remember that old Anthony Newley musical "Stop the World I want to get off" well there are times that I wish I could.

Nicole Mamo, aged 48, tried to place a help-wanted advert in a Thetford, Jobcentre. Being the owner of an employment agency (Devonwood Recruitment Agency), Ms Mamo wrote that any applicants for the £5.80 an hour position of cleaner "must be very reliable and hard-working." But the Thetford Jobcentre refused to take her ad. The reason given she said was "Because the Jobcentre could have cases brought against them for discriminating against unreliable people." The following day Nicole phoned Thetford Jobcentre Plus and was told The ‘offensive’ advert will remain on their website. Mamo told the Jobcentre. "We supply the National Health Service with staff, so it's very important for the patients that we have reliable workers and really, using your advice, isn't the term "worker" discriminatory against the lazy, too? Source: The London Telegraph.

A spokeswoman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness described the decision not to display Nicole’s advert as ‘ridiculous’. She said: ‘This situation is absolutely ridiculous - of course people want reliable workers and of course employers should be able to ask for them. ‘If they can’t advertise for what they actually want then the system is broken. They won’t be able to find workers who meet their criteria. In order to have decided that the word “reliable” can’t be used they must have put a great deal of thought and time into it. That time could be better spent getting the right people to apply for the right jobs - which is what this advert was trying to do in the first place.’

I hear you shout "This is supposed to be a Narrow Boat blog - get on with it."

There is an old saying "Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool." Today - I felt for a fleeting moment that my talents had breached their bounds. Why, because I considered not trying to get my employers to push me gently towards the door with my pockets stuffed with promissory notes. I gave thought to waiting a few years more until my real retirement day came around. I think it was the coffee that jolted me back to my senses.

Last night, I caught the Mem-sahib looking at boats for sale on the RugbyBoats website. There's nothing new in her perusing the boats available on the web. However, for the first time, she did not pass comment on the boats lack of colour co-ordinated curtains. She chirped on about cabin layouts, fit-out finishes, calorifiers and stoves. It must be getting serious.

So what about the colour scheme and how important is that going to be to our choice. I must admit this is not something that I had spent much time pondering on.  How about a copy of the best looking car ever to stand on the F1 grid - Colin Chapman's Lotus JPS - Now there is what I would call a colour scheme.... mmmm! A deep black with gold stripes and text...... mmmmm!

Later....