Did you lay that egg yourself?
There was a wonderful display of petty British officialdom on display at Northamptonshire today. Some 25 frozen souls were huddled in the pavilion, noses pressed to the windows as they watched their county play in a cold championship match against Essex. Some had brought their sandwiches and Thermos flasks inside with them, which was strictly verboten under the rules pinned on the wall that said you could only consume food and drink you had bought from the official Northamptonshire caterer.
Naturally, it wasn't long before some club official noticed and marched over to tick them off.
"Now you know you aren't meant to eat food in here that you haven't bought from over there," he said, pointing to the serving window where a matron was dispensing plates of chips for £1.50. "But I am prepared to compromise with you."
His compromise was to erect a screen halfway down the Long Room. "Those people on this side," he said, "can eat food that they have brought in, while those on the other side must buy it over there." Then came the coup de grace.
"But I'm warning you," he said. "You can only eat food that you made yourselves. We will not allow you to buy food from shops or garages and bring it in here." There was no mention of whether the bread for their sandwiches had to be home-baked, or the lettuce grown in their own gardens, but I bet it isn't long before this chap is employed by the ICC.
Is it also true that items such as knuckle dusters and flares may only be purchased by officially lisenced armourers at football games?
Posted by: Peter McGuinness | 8 May 2007 07:38:23