Fun police strike again

[Gob]

A Dumbarton lollipop man has been banned by the local council from "high-fiving" children as they cross the road.



Nkosana Mdikane, 74, is known as "Scotland's happiest lollipop man" due to his singing and dancing at work.

West Dunbartonshire Council said safety fears were behind the decision.

But school parents have questioned the council's reasoning, with one father David Dufton starting a Facebook campaign to try to reverse the move.


A statement from West Dunbartonshire Council said: "All patrollers are instructed when crossing children over a road to remain static with one hand on their stick and the other stretched outwards. This ensures that they can be seen and effectively provides a barrier between school pupils and the traffic."

On its Facebook page the council added: "This is national guidance and has been the case for a number of years."

Mr Mdikane told the BBC he is baffled by the council's instruction to him.

"When I ask them what is the wrong that I did, they say 'you are not concentrating on the traffic'," he said.

"I listened to the rules, I am playing the game according to the rules - I have stopped (high-fiving)."

He added that he thinks his employers will back down: "If they don't do that, they'll be stupid, they'll be extra stupid. I don't want to push anything further, but it's a carry-on."

Mr Dufton said he thinks the council's logic is "flawed".

[Lord Jim]

Mr Mdikane told the BBC he is baffled by the council's instruction to him.

I'm not, they're brain dead bureaucrat morons; this is the kind of thing that brain dead bureaucrat morons do....

He added that he thinks his employers will back down: "If they don't do that, they'll be stupid, they'll be extra stupid.

I don't fancy Mr. Mdikane's chances; they've already demonstrated a robust capacity for extra stupid...They seem to be good with it...

[MajGenl.Meade]

It's not stupid. The man shouldn't be high-fiving the kids when he's supposed to be keeping an alert eye out for traffic, for stragglers and doing the frickin' job he's paid to do.

Mr Mdikane told the BBC he is baffled by the council's instruction to him.
"When I ask them what is the wrong that I did, they say 'you are not concentrating on the traffic'," he said.

He must be a dozy twat not to understand that. Clearly he does - because he's stopped doing it. What a non-story in tea-cup

[Gob]

[Lord Jim]

Gee, a happy guy with a zest for life who loves his job and brings a little happiness to children...

What an asshole...we certainly don't want that type around...

Meade, are you channeling your inner Scooter?

After seeing those clips it doesn't appear to me that this guy is crossing kids in the middle of a super highway; I'll bet it's possible to multi-task to the point where you can hold up a hand to give the kids a "high five" as they walk by, and pay sufficient attention to the on coming traffic...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Looked like he was doing a good job in the 2 video clips, without high fives and not a kid was complaining. He should cut out that stupid dancing on the zebra crossing though. It's illegal to dance in the road. Why can't he high-five them on the side of the road as he prepares to help them cross? Huh?

Hurry up and tell us what's happening in Peyton Place and to the Young and the Restless. Updates needed!

[wesw]

have to agree that the middle of the road is not best place to exchange high fives....

[Lord Jim]

Well, I see Meade and wes agree on this one...

Now I know I'm right...

[MajGenl.Meade]

...oh. I'll be dancing in the middle of I-76 later today, hoping for an 18-wheel intervention

[Sue U]

Well, I see Meade and wes agree on this one...

Now I know I'm right...

Cripes, I was just about to agree with you, Jim ...

(But then again, you always know you're right, despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. )

[wesw]

sue just sees clients and dollar signs dancing before her eyes.....

[Sue U]

sue just sees clients and dollar signs dancing before her eyes.....

It may surprise you to know that I'm not in this business for the money. I gave up factory work, scribbling and rock stardom for lawyering because I figured it would be more regular hours, mostly inside work and not a lot of heavy lifting.

Turns out the hours are regularly 24/7, the work is mostly inside my head and it requires me to move mountains.

[Guinevere]

Very few do this lawyering gig for the money. Mostly we are eternal optimists (even if experience has occasionally made us cynical optimists) who think we have the chance to change the world for the better through the work we do because we care very deeply about making a difference.

And as for the money -- well as Sue said, it's a 24/7 job. If my client needs me, I'm there. If the court requires it, I'm there. I've tried cases with a 100 degree fever while in the midst of the flu, held conference calls while on vacation, driven through blizzards for meetings, missed birthday parties because of deadlines, and even had to cancel trips already bought and paid for because a judge said I had to be in his courtroom instead ( as have all of my brothers and sisters - it's part of the deal). Like Sue, I gave up a prior career to go to law school and when it all averages out, my hourly compensation is hardly going to make anyone see dollar signs. But, I still don't want to do anything else.

[wesw]

easy ladies, don t make a federal case out of it.

[Big RR]

Well said Guin (and Sue). The fabled money is not the lure of the law; there are far easier ways to make even more money. Hell, I could cut my hours and work two jobs for a lot more, and probably work less hours to boot.

[wesw]

oh come on guys. I ll let you make red neck jokes (not that I could stop you), you can t take away the lawyer jokes.....

[Guinevere]

Didn't read like a joke to me, or apparently Sue and BigRR, either. And believe me, I've heard and laughed at a lot of lawyer jokes (not to mention scads and scads of blonde jokes, too).

[Big RR]

I'll agree; I love a good lawyer joke--that was just more a slap at lawyers (really sue specifically) in a passive aggressive way.

Here's a lawyer joke: A girl is talking to her mother about anal sex and her mother says "There's nothing wrong with it, just make sure you don't get pregnant". The girl replies, "You can get pregnant from anal sex?" And the mom says "Sure, where do you think lawyers come from".

Since it's an anal sex joke I'll skip the rim shot.

[Guinevere]

That was funny!

[wesw]

I don t know about passive- aggressive, but you are right about it being a shot at sue, specifically. she thought the crack about me being " expelled(spewed) from my syphilitic mother s uterous", in " whatever hog holler I m from", was sooooo funny. I guess I m still holding a grudge, which is wrong.


after all i love my dog, and she chases ambulances too.....