When my modern relatives came to call they kept the child in the cabin as she
was 'not to get too much sun'. We stowed the buggy on the back deck - and then
kept falling over it. Meanwhile as we set off on our day trip, up the front
someone started beating a mat on the paintwork. It seems that my cousin had
walked in towpath dog shit and then climbed aboard to spread it around!
As the child's parents were in constant attention to her I don't think they
ever looked out the window - let alone came on deck. They had arrived late as
the Sat-Nav could not find the canal and once there, we were told by the
relative who had arranged the trip times for the day that they could only stay
3 hours as the child's parents had a firm's do that night and had to get back
early for that. So it was a quick out and back - all in a rush and nothing like
the quiet chug through Britain with the family that we expected.
After they had gone we checked the towpath - there was only one bit of DS in
miles but my cousin is like that. We chugged off leaving them to their busy
life - they can have it. It took over a week to get the DS off even the rubber
doormat where my cousin had wiped his feet.
Given the above the impression we got was that to get these dynamic people
to enjoy the cut we would need to raise the limit to 50mph and let them use
high-speed power boats to get them to enjoy a canal experience!
David Cragg
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 26/02/2007 15:07:53 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
I keep hoping having more than one (two at the most) kids will soon
become seriously socially unacceptable globally.
When my only child was young (over thirty years ago now) it was social
unacceptable to be seen to have children at all, on holiday we couldn't
contemplate taking our (well behaved) daughter into pubs, hotels looked
unfavourably on
families and prams/pushchairs were an absolute no-no almost everywhere.
Nowadays (to the frustration, I'm sure, of everyone who suffered as we did in
the
early 70s) buggies are used as a sign of importance, an entrance ticket to
everywhere and as a weapon of mass destruction to force lesser mortals out of
the way.
Chelsea taxis and virility symbols (people carriers) are seen as the only
valid form of transport for the modern generation. Having two or three totally
out of control under-seven year olds creating havoc is a statement to
demonstrate your importance and value to society. Since the mid eighties,
overdressed and under-controlled designer children have been used as personal
accessories supplanting jewellery.
I await (with trepidation) the introduction of the child-in-mind
euro-compliant narrowboat. Perhaps through the mechanism of this list we could
compile
or design the characteristics of the boat for the new millennium which appeals
to the generation of today. For example, where would you fit the buggy
locker, air bags, the child safety seats and the 'children on board' dangling
diamond amongst other things?
Arthur Naylor
nb Fuddy-duddy
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