KEY POINTS:
Tim Jones saw this menu in Beijing recently but wasn't brave enough to try No 2 ...
* * *
Leighton Cox stumbled across an essay competition for high school students run by student political group Act on Campus. First prize is a day at Parliament with Rodney Hide MP. Second prize is an iPod nano. Says Mr Cox: "And they say the right wing is out of touch with what the youth want?"
* * *
British men have become too scared to compliment a woman, a survey suggests. The poll by a French wine producer says that while 89 per cent of women love to receive a compliment, 67 per cent feel uncomfortable if it comes from anybody except their partner. And 65 per cent of women suspect a flattering remark from a work colleague or new acquaintance is not entirely innocent. Christine Webber, a relationship expert, comments: "While it may seem somewhat frivolous, a compliment is in fact a vital ingredient for wellbeing. The trick, though, is to be able to pay someone a compliment and make them feel good about themselves, rather than coming over as smarmy or, worse, a bit lecherous."
* * *
A reader was walking down Broadway in Newmarket: "Two Remuera housewives (with obviously more money than courtesy) were walking behind me moaning about a shop assistant wishing one of them: 'Have a good day.' The younger of these two sparkling examples said: 'I told her I hope that no one dictated the rest of her day to her just as she had done with me and off I walked!' Wouldn't it have been easier and far nicer to just have acknowledged the attempt at politeness and returned the courtesy?"
* * *
Men in Switzerland worried about their testicles getting zapped by mobile phone radiation can now buy radiation-proof boxer shorts. Clothes manufacturer Andreas Sallmann is producing the heavy-duty underwear at his factory in Amriswil. He said he wanted to produce the garments to protect his six sons and secure the future of the company. "If I am right and mobile phone radiation damages fertility," he complained, "then I wouldn't have any customers left."
* * *
A reader writes: "When my grandson got a red scooter for Christmas, I got out my old family photo album, which only had black and white photos in it. I showed him a photo of myself at the same age and said: 'I had a scooter, too, and it was blue.' To which he replied: 'No it wasn't, you didn't have colour in your day.' Logical, I suppose."
