Annoyingly, none of the serviced checkout counters were operational so I had to put my purchases through one of of those irritating self-service checkouts. When it was all done and I had paid my bill with a contactless Visa card, I noticed that I had forgotten to put a single courgette (American: zucchini) through the till. It was still in my trolley.
I admit that for a moment, I was very tempted to sling that thing into one of my shopping bags and just walk out of the discount supermarket. But I didn't because I knew that if I had done that, the act of dishonesty would have preyed on me. Consequently I put the single courgette through the self checkout process and paid a further forty seven pence. It felt better to have done that.
That's the kind of bloke I am these days. I try my best to live honestly - no cheating and no lies. It feels better that way. I can sleep easily in my bed with a clear conscience.
In contrast, our country's prime minister seems to be full of lies. He lied about the benefits that leaving The European Union would bring to Great Britain and he lied about the drinks parties that happened in the very seat of government during the worst times of the pandemic when this country was in shutdown mode.
My mother would frequently retort, "I can't bear liars!". She would have been disgusted with this country's current political leader. Lying is as much a part of his character as his inability to say "sorry" and really mean it. For him, every pretentious "sorry" is qualified.
If he had an ounce of dignity he would have already resigned and gone off into the wilderness to write his bestselling memoirs. Hopefully, it won't be long before he is squeezed out like the last globule from a toothpaste tube. He's customarily lazy and self-obsessed and doesn't have the wherewithal to MBGA (Make Britain Great Again).
Rant over. Ahhhh... that feels better.
I knew a woman once who spoke with a very heavy New York accent. She used to say something in that accent which I will never forget.
ReplyDelete"You know what liars do? They lie!"
She was right.
It is that simple.
DeleteHe is in "good" company with Trump. I'm like you and couldn't live with cheating and dishonesty, even over a zucchini.
ReplyDeleteHe's like Trump - boorish, egocentric, misogynistic, ugly and just plain wrong.
DeleteNice rant and comparison for you to get to the useless prime minister.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the ranting Ranting Red.
DeleteI like Judge Judy's saying that, If you don't lie, you don't have to have a good memory.
ReplyDeleteI'd have paid for that zucchini, too!
Good to hear that you also have some tough moral fibre Bob.
DeleteOur shameless Prime Minister, Boris Blagger, reminds me of a scene in the famous movie of 1933, *Duck Soup*. Starring the Marx Brothers.
ReplyDeleteChico Marx plays Chicolini, a man with delusions of grandeur.
Chicolini tries to pull one over on the grand dowager Mrs Gloria Teasdale, played by the redoubtable Margaret Dumont (Wikipedia).
Teasdale: Your Excellency, I thought you left.
Chicolini: Oh no. I no leave.
Teasdale: But I SAW you with my own eyes.
Chicolini: Who ya gonna believe? ME or your own eyes?
With a bit of nifty art work, you could have Boris joining the Marx Brothers.
Boris looks like mute Harpo, if Harpo had eaten too many suet dumplings.
In the movie Groucho played Rufus T Firefly who flirts waggishly with Gloria Teasdale.
This was the Torrid Bedroom Scene that never happened.
Ha-ha! I love your analogising Mr Haggerty.
DeleteI heard about Boris on the TV news and wondered who would take his place when he gets kicked out?
ReplyDeleteThe favourite is Rishi Sunak - our current chancellor. Four foot six and as dull as ditch water. Lord knows what his "vision" might be.
DeleteA puppet to do the bidding of those behind curtains?
DeleteI would have been tempted to leave the courgette there so I didnt have to go through the whole purchase process again
ReplyDeleteSelf service checkouts are a cunning way of reducing staff.
DeleteAlthough I believe I have a realistic-optimistic idea of man, the realist in me is not surprised when politicians turn out to be habitual liars. I also believe that there are some very good, morally upright people in politics, but the other sort seem to prevail these days, no matter where you look.
ReplyDeleteSupermarkets in Germany rarely have self-checkout counters, but our nearest IKEA store has that. It usually works well, and reduces the wait at the serviced tills.
I despise self-service checkouts - especially when I have a full trolley to deal with.
DeleteI used to be a checkout operator and I quite like the self service ones because I know I can process my goods faster than the girls at the regular checkouts. But they do contribute to loss of staff, which is a bad thing. On the other hand, the store I worked at had 15 checkout lanes, but only two plus the express checkouts were manned for 95% of the year. Because hiring more staff isn't within the front-end budget. Paying too many wages eats into the profits.
DeleteLying appears to be an endemic trait amongst almost all of the current crop of politicians. Long gone are the days of any minister resigning over anything (and most of the cabinet have plenty to resign over).
ReplyDeleteAt least the US has some provision for the voters to get a recall and election to try someone else.
There have always been lies and the bending of truth but Johnson has taken it all to another level.
DeleteAny suggestion of who might replace the lying buffoon? If he is to replaced, I would expect it to be closer to the next election. Australia hasn't been very good looking over the last couple of weeks, and nor is Britain.
ReplyDeleteThe favourite is Rishi Sunak - the current chancellor.
DeleteHe has good hair, dresses nicely and is very rich. Could be worse. Yet to hear him speak.
DeleteI think I would have done the same if I had been faced with your courgette dilemma. Stealing would leave me with a horribly guilty conscience.
ReplyDeleteA few times in the past when I have received more change than I should have done, I have given it back.
DeleteI'm relieved to read that you did the right thing, and paid the forty seven pence for the courgette.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you expect a politician to tell the truth and admit to his/her wrong doings? Why should they - when they know their position gives them entitlement, and their motto is "One law for us, and another for the rest of the idiots who voted us in"?
It wasn't just Boris who lied about the "advantages" of leaving the EU - what about Farage who promised that the money saved would be spent on the NHS? Promises made with no intention of being kept.
They should be made to stand in The Old Bailey, rightfully accused of breach of promise.
DeleteI am not sure we need to waste breath over a wretched prime minister, he will go soon enough as the Tories gather rank to discuss his fate. His lying has been a revelation, a) that it was allowed by all and sundry, b) that there is no Act of Parliament for him to be thrown out.
ReplyDeleteGlad you paid for that solitary courgette, think of the miles it had come to lie unforgotten in your trolley.
I think the courgette had come from Spain but the blueberries had come from Chile... something I certainly cannot justify.
DeleteWhat would Boris have done with the courgette? Just put it in his bag and said no one told him he had to pay for it?
ReplyDeleteI know where he could have concealed the courgette - not in a bag and not in his jacket pockets either.
DeleteIsn't that it in your picture - stuck on his face?
DeleteCourgettes are normally green but I guess there are some flesh coloured varieties.
DeleteWhen I lived in Germany as a young girl, a German boyfriend at the time wanted me to smuggle a packet of cigarettes through the checkout. I couldn't do it and paid up - to his disgust. Needless to say I soon ditched him!
ReplyDeleteCigarettes are bad for one's health anyway.
DeleteA member of my brother in law's family was actually arrested for that. She claimed it was an accident but multiple items were dropped into bags unscanned. Store security is watching these self checkouts closely. To be perfectly honest, I have to say that while honesty is important to me, even more important to me is never seeing my name in the newspaper's police blotter.
ReplyDeleteThe way that supermarkets operate puts temptation in people's way
DeleteI despise lying. I'm the same way, I would have paid for the zucchini, although I would never buy a zucchini. When you lie, you lose your credibility and the trust of others, which takes a long time to regain. I have a coworker who lies and is a good christian woman and is vocal about her christianity. She has no credibility as far as I'm concerned. She will screw anyone over if it's to her benefit and she is only about herself. If she makes a mistake, and we all do, she will not admit it or apologize. I don't trust her at all.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I have lied, and those lies still bother me to this day. That's probably why lying bothers me so much now.
Only a little over a year ago, we had a lying leader so I know the feeling. Just this morning, I bought a $17 item at the grocery store among $83 worth of other things, but when I got home and unpacked things, it was gone. I checked my receipt and sure enough it got rang up so it hadn't been my imagination but it wasn't in my car and it certainly didn't make it home with me. I'm assuming the checker put it in a plastic bag that didn't get put in my cart which was likely since they had been more interested in a conversation with a neighboring checker than me. So I drove back to the store assuming it would still be sitting there and they would have spotted the mistake but hadn't flagged me down in the parking lot. Alas though, she had no clue of how it had gone missing. I'm going to further assume the next person behind me ended up with it in their cart. Fortunately they were nice enough about it and replaced it with another one free of charge.
ReplyDeleteI should mention that this has happened to me a few times over the years but this is the first time it hadn't been waiting for me when I got back to the store.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are exceptions, but I think most politicians lie, even if they don't believe that's what they're doing at the time. I've not been particularly satisfied with a president in my country for many years now.
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate your input on my latest blogpost, if you don't mind taking a look. I'd like a variety of opinions.
Happy to oblige Kelly.
DeleteHowever, Word Press blocked me. Something to do with those pesky passwords!
Delete1. "In The Morning"
2. "Sciurine Clues"
I hate that WordPress didn't cooperate for you, but appreciate that you returned here to weigh in your thoughts. The first photo is, indeed, taken in the morning. Sometimes simple can be best. As for your second offering... I learned a new word!
DeleteOn a side note, Instagram decided I should follow bosh.tv (based on other vegan posts I've viewed... it's a little creepy, I know) and I'm really enjoying all their posts, reels, etc. I've already seen some recipes I want to try. You should be mighty proud of that son of yours.
I hate that WordPress didn't cooperate for you, but appreciate that you returned here to weigh in your thoughts. The first photo is, indeed, taken in the morning. Sometimes simple can be best. As for your second offering... I learned a new word!
DeleteOn a side note, Instagram decided I should follow bosh.tv (based on other vegan posts I've viewed... it's a little creepy, I know) and I'm really enjoying all their posts, reels, etc. I've already seen some recipes I want to try. You should be mighty proud of that son of yours.