So what's new?

Well hello there!!
That is incidentally one of the greetings I hate most...it's up there along with 'Howdy', 'Hello, I'm James Blunt' and anything German.

So what's new? It has been ages since I've been on but don't fret, I have ben perusing the news and filing away stories to put on here. Apart from that, I have just finished my exams and in order to celebrate, I've started drinking in the mornings to really give the day that kickstart it needs. In less then a week I'm off to see my beloved God-daughter and her family in New Zealand which I can't wait for! I'll be back in the movie reviewing business soon (there are lots of great films coming up) and hopefully also starting a Movie Review blog with a friend where we will discuss movies, actors and the anti-Christ that is Sarah Jessica Parker. My blogging should be frequent due to the time I will have in the summer holidays, so sit back, relax and prepare to be astounded at just how shit the media can get.

Man aged 33 is refused a bottle of wine in Tesco... because he had no ID


       In any other situation, Jason Wilde might have been flattered to be thought of as a decade younger. But when the 33-year-old was refused a bottle of rose wine at a Tesco near where he lives he felt humiliated and angry. An overzealous staff member refused to serve him when he was unable to prove his age because he did not have identification.
      Jason Wilde, 33, was refused a bottle of wine at Tesco because he was unable to prove his age. His 29-year-old fiancee, Lorraine Thomas, was not allowed to buy it either on the grounds that she may have been purchasing alcohol for a minor. And although his 29-year-old fiancee, Lorraine Thomas, stepped in with her driving licence, the supermarket refused to budge as she might be buying alcohol for a minor. 
       He ended up leaving the Bar Hill store in Cambridgeshire - which he has visited nearly every week for the past five years - with everything in his trolley except for the wine. 'When you're buying £140 worth of shopping, you're hardly likely to be underage,' said Mr Wilde, a sales manager from nearby Fenstanton. 'It wasn't like we were trying to buy six cans of dodgy cider. I am 15 years over the legal age. Things have got ridiculous.'
      
       How ironic life can be. A couple of months ago, Matthew, his wife and Sheena all went to Tescos together to do our first big shop for our new house. There happened to be special offers on booze that day so we purchased a good £100 worth of the proverbial liquor and headed to the check-out. Unfortunately, we happened to choose the one counter that was more than amptly filled by a bloated behemoth with bad skin and a real grudge against anyone skinnier than her (which is saying something if I was skinnier but I think it was Sheena's petiteness that was the last straw that broke the camel toe's back). Matthew and Sheena put most of our food through first whilst I held back some of my own stuff (including my Malibu) to purchase seperately. That was fine.
       THEN, the wonderful cashier (who we shall call Gertrude) asked for ID (which is fair enough due to the 'Looking Under 25 Rule') and Mattthew (who was paying) provided his. I then showed her mine to go with the alcohol I was buying. At this point, Gertrude turned to Sheena, who was standing innocently some distance away, kicking her heels and with her mind probably on the fun she would have with our dog Pepper when she got home. "What about her?", she bitched in a voice that did Jabba The Hutt justice. Sheena did not have ID and on ascertaining this, a cruel smile slowly spread over Gertrude's jowls before she pronounced that she would not be able to let them purchase their alcohol. Momentarily stunned by the tyranny that had just been unmasked in Tescos, Matthew and I both gasped "Why??". We were told exactly the same reasons as were given to Jason in the above article. Matthew was infuriated that because Sheena (who is 24 - a full 6 years over the required drinking age limit and fled her home nation of America to seek refuge from exactly this sort of discrimination on the age of purchasing drink) was with him and did not have ID, he could not buy any of the alcohol.
       At this point, I stepped in. In the meantime Matthew had told Sheena to go to the car, but was still told that he would not be able to buy the spirits. I said to Gertrude that I was a friend of the couple and had bumped into them at the store. I had my own alcohol and took Matthew and Sheena's with the intention of purchasing it myself. Alas, it was not to be. I was then refused my legal right to buy booze with ID because there was a very real danger that I would just sell it or provide it to underage drinkers (such as Sheena). Matthew asked to see Gertrude's superior at which point some gremlin (we'll call him Neil) popped up at the till. Neil was about 12 and had a face so pockmarked that in comparison, he made it look like the moon used moisturiser. On hearing the situation, Neil then repeated the exact same Tesco's manifesto. Matthew asked to speak to his superior but was then informed that there was no-one at this superstore.
       We left in disgust. Just to show how disgusted we were, we took our groceries. Most angry customers would have neglected purchasing their goods at Tesco and just gone somewhere else to teach the corporate giant a lesson, but that was just inconvenient. I have to say I sympathise totally with Jason and think that the attitude employed by Tesco is utterly fucking ridiculous. Everything in the above article is, for once, a true reflection of real life. Savour it whilst it lasts, who knows when the next decent news story will occur. I only wish we could have gone to the papers.