Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Laughter, The Best Medicine*

Doing a word puzzle recently I discovered that Roger is American slang for vomit [is that true? Friends in USA please confirm or deny!] I thought about this at 1:30am in Liz's bathroom on Sunday. I blame the sausages I'd had for Saturday tea [fortunately I was the only one to eat them, nobody else was poorly] I'm fine now. But I wasn't going to let being unwell in the night ruin my day. I deliberately looked for things to make me smile. 
On our way to the bus stop we pass a lovely florists. Rosie always calls it the Nuthead Gardener. 
This week they were selling Christmas trees, and the pair of us couldn't help giggling at the tree funnels. Have you seen them? They seem to be everywhere this year. They are like giant sausage machines. 
They wrap each tree in a nylon net to make it easy to carry home. For some reason Rosie and I thought the gadget was really funny
In Sainsbury's we watched a woman buying a "Christmas Decoration" for £2. Three twigs wrapped in cellophane! Good grief, how crazy. I know we were in London, but surely there was somewhere nearby to forage a twig?  Some people have money to burn. 
In John Lewis I looked [briefly] in the haberdashery section. They had Christmas "fat quarter" packs. But clearly nobody spell-checked the labels - I was amused that the festive foliage fabric was labelled "holy selection" 
Less amusing was the John Lewis "Santa's Grotto". It cost £20 per child plus £2 for each accompanying adult.
"Each child has their photo taken, and receives a plush toy worth £10" But you had to pay extra for the photo - and accompanying adults were not allowed to take their own pictures. My SIL bought an elf like that for just £5 on Friday - Waitrose are currently selling them half price. 

I felt it was wrong to charge for the adult. No way would I let my two precious children go unaccompanied to meet a hairy old stranger on the other side of the curtain! I'm not saying I suspect the guy of nefarious behaviour, but it goes against all the safeguarding principles. Parents ought to be allowed in free of charge. Rosie thought it was very expensive too and pointed out it would cost us £44. I admired her maths and bought her a little felt elf for the tree. As her Dad said "the real Santa would never charge that much" 
*This comes originally from Proverbs 17 :22 "a merry heart is good medicine". Happy to report that I've quickly recovered from the Roger-interlude. 
How much would you pay for a child to see Santa? 
Should the carer have to pay extra? 


37 comments:

  1. I remember bring taken to see Santa at a Big London Department store when I was little. A sorg of train ride ( I think the carriage stayed still and the scenery moved) and Santa and a toy.... I shudder to think what that would cost now. I don't think I would pay ££ for anything less than a really good effort, and all children to be accompanied foc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was Kirstenm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was taken to Selfridge's to see Santa when I was little. It must have cost a lot less back then. I never had a photo of the event.

      Delete
  3. Does seem expensive! Very sorry to hear you were unwell! Rosie is a cracker! Kx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is a real tonic, and Jess is equally delightful. Rosie cottoned on to the fact that mentioning the absent parents might upset Jess. So we had great conversations involving winks and spelling out M U M.

      Delete
  4. Goodness - all very expensive. Much too much for the average family

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sorry to hear that you felt unwell during the night. I know they use Roger to mean that a message has been received and understood, but, I've never heard of Roger being used to mean vomit!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bless. Yes, in the UK, Roger is used in that sense too. Roger, over and out!

      Delete
  6. £20 per child!? Outrageously expensive!
    I took my grandson to see Santa at Roy's of Wroxham years ago. I waited outside and overheard the conversation between them. Santa asked if he had been a good boy this year. Sam (about 5 years old) replied "not all the time".
    Santa replied " well, none of us can be good all the time". Bless you Santa!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Angela I've not heard the term "Roger" used in my part of Canada (Ontario) for throwing up. Roger over & out is. The term of "ralphing" is often used for throwing up - it's a slang term. I agree with you about not letting children go alone to sit on Santa's knee, plus some kids are SO scare of Santa they wouldn't go without Mom or Dad, so charging for parents is nothing short of a money grab IMO.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you PP. Perhaps the British person who set the puzzle got the wrong word? Ralph and Roger are both boy's names of 5 letters beginning with R, after all!

      Delete
  8. I've never heard of "Roger" being used in that way. I'm sorry you weren't feeling well. I do think that it sends mixed messages to children to tell them in one breathe, "Don't talk to strangers." and in then in the next, go ahead and send them off with some random guy. And no, I think it's ridiculous to charge the parents!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think PP is right - it should be Ralph.

      Delete
  9. I'm such a wuss, if I vomit I cry! Commiserations, glad you didn't let it get you down. Those prices - lovely that your granddaughter could do the maths and didn't demand to go in.
    Alison in Wales x

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes, it's Ralph that means vomit. My brother used to say "talking to Ralph on the big white phone"! Anne in WY

    ReplyDelete
  11. I never heard of Roger or Ralph as a term for vomit. Seems that I am out of touch as several people mention Ralph!
    JanF

    ReplyDelete
  12. Re Christmas tree funnels - I used these when I used to help out at a local garden centre. If the customer had chosen a particularly full tree it could be a real challenge to get it through the funnel though. We also had a gadget a bit like a pencil sharpener for trimming the trunk down so that it would easily fit in the tree stand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the idea of a giant pencil sharpener!

      Delete
  13. Seems a bit steep to see Santa, especially as we know he's not real!! LOL.. But the twigs? Well my daughter gave me some 5 years ago bought from Waitrose and I still have them, safely wrapped after each Christmas ready for the next!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I applaud your diligence in keeping them for future use!

      Delete
  14. PS. Roger or Ralph what ever you call it, why do children's sick always have carrots?

    ReplyDelete
  15. How grasping of John Lewis to charge that amount, I told Iris and she said she wouldn't let me pay that anyway as its not the real Santa! Hope your tummy has settled down now. Hugs Gill Xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. So sorry to hear about your upset tummy. Sausages can be an unknown quantity at times, but usually it is more a question of flavour and texture than toxicity, thank goodness.
    They use those funnels in Vienna and they also nail the bottom of the tree to a cross piece stand! No opportunity to put them in water, it seems.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've not heard of Ralph or Roger used that way, but I'm often (mostly) out of touch with current slang (music, too)! I'll ask some colleagues who have kids, providing I remember. I've plenty of twigs in the back garden if I want any.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Total rip off by John Lewis to charge £20 for a visit to see Santa, a soft toy, and then want extra for a photo. They are clearly no longer the same store which once promised 'never knowingly undersold!’
    As for not allowing parents to accompany small children, that’s truly shocking in this day and age of safeguarding rules.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They DO allow parents, but only if they pay extra

      Delete

Always glad to hear from you - thanks for stopping by!
I am blocking anonymous comments now, due to excessive spam!