Sideswipe: October 4: Starting a franchise?

Landscaping. Photo / Supplied

You called your business what? Perhaps he's starting a franchise.

To pee or not to pee

What age is it okay to let your kid pee in public? "To the Westmere mother who allowed her son to relieve himself on the grass verge outside a cafe and takeaway shop in full view of all at a very busy shopping area and even busier road around 6pm last Friday ... You need to reassess what is acceptable and what is not! The sight of a boy of around 8-9 years of age urinating in a very public place is definitely an all-time low in my book. If it was that necessary, at least walk away from the main road and food outlets and be a little more discreet."

Corrie worries

Andrew writes: "To those Coro Street viewers miffed by the change in timeslot, I suggest you simply adopt your own form of daylight savings and put your clocks forward by 2 hours."

Is it in the jeans?

"I've seen it all ... I was at the Glassons store in Takapuna last week," says a reader."Browsing away, picked up a few items to try on, headed for the changing rooms and was greeted by a teenage boy trying on jeans. Girls' jeans. Apparently he couldn't decide between the turquoise or the red. I wondered to myself exactly how he got himself into such a dilemma."

The heart of the matter

Catholics in Poland gathered on Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus. The communion wafer in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka. Two medical doctors determined that the spot was heart muscle tissue, church officials have said.

Tax for fatties

Denmark has imposed a "fat tax" on foods such as butter and oil as a way to curb unhealthy eating habits. The Nordic country introduced the tax on Saturday of 16 krone ($3.76) per kilogram of saturated fat in a product. The tax was approved by a large majority in Parliament in March as a move to help increase the average life expectancy of Danes. Denmark, like some other European countries, already has higher fees on sugar, chocolates and soft drinks, but Linnet Juul says he believes the Nordic country is the first in the world to tax fatty foods. In September, Hungary introduced a similar tax popularly known as the "Hamburger Law".