(no subject)
To Westleigh Park this morning to buy my ticket for the Swansea replay, then on, via Fareham Burger King, to work for the PM shift.
We got to come off the phones at 8.55 to wander down to the Map Room for a briefing from the supervisors. As Marilyn, Mary, Jo and Christine #3 all lined up in a row, stood to the side of, or perched on the edge of, the big desk at the front, Sue #3 and Collette in front of me called them "the Spice Girls" (they were one short, but never mind). "Which one's Sporty? Which one's Ginger?" they grinned.
"Which one's Scary?" I asked.
"All of them."
A couple of minutes later they repeated the joke to a late-arriving guy who sat down next to them. Jo heard, and dubbed herself "Old Spice".
One bone of contention mentioned in the meeting was that, where previously we coded half-siblings as 'Brother/sister', we've now been instructed to code them as 'Step-brother/sister'. Marilyn said they'd argued for retaining the status quo, but been told by the powers that be that we have to change to be in line with other surveys. Trina chipped in "They should change to be in line with us."
During question time at the end I mentioned the scenario of a single woman who has two children and has given them both her surname. "I don't really fancy the idea of asking her if they have the same or different fathers." (The older lady next to me quipped "She probably wouldn't know." Get back in the knife drawer, Mrs!) Marilyn said they had argued that point with head office but it hadn't made a difference.
"So I would have to ask her about the parentage of her children?"
"In a way, yes," said Marilyn. If it does happen I'll just ask "Are they full or half siblings" and hope it doesn't offend...
My home girl Stephanie Smee just lost her BDO Darts semi-final :(
We got to come off the phones at 8.55 to wander down to the Map Room for a briefing from the supervisors. As Marilyn, Mary, Jo and Christine #3 all lined up in a row, stood to the side of, or perched on the edge of, the big desk at the front, Sue #3 and Collette in front of me called them "the Spice Girls" (they were one short, but never mind). "Which one's Sporty? Which one's Ginger?" they grinned.
"Which one's Scary?" I asked.
"All of them."
A couple of minutes later they repeated the joke to a late-arriving guy who sat down next to them. Jo heard, and dubbed herself "Old Spice".
One bone of contention mentioned in the meeting was that, where previously we coded half-siblings as 'Brother/sister', we've now been instructed to code them as 'Step-brother/sister'. Marilyn said they'd argued for retaining the status quo, but been told by the powers that be that we have to change to be in line with other surveys. Trina chipped in "They should change to be in line with us."
During question time at the end I mentioned the scenario of a single woman who has two children and has given them both her surname. "I don't really fancy the idea of asking her if they have the same or different fathers." (The older lady next to me quipped "She probably wouldn't know." Get back in the knife drawer, Mrs!) Marilyn said they had argued that point with head office but it hadn't made a difference.
"So I would have to ask her about the parentage of her children?"
"In a way, yes," said Marilyn. If it does happen I'll just ask "Are they full or half siblings" and hope it doesn't offend...
My home girl Stephanie Smee just lost her BDO Darts semi-final :(