BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Page 52
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• While a Master of Ceremony can still get away with "Ladies and Gentlemen. . . and they still segregate the sexes, to indicate public toilets (though some wag will doubtless turn it into "Persons' toilets" one day and "urinals" will become obsolete), disguising the sex of a chairman or chairwoman has become the vogue; but for why, I ask myself?
These reflections spring from the fact that the Road Haulage Association house journal, Roadway this month carries a letter from one Dorothy G Parkin, and I quote: "Dear Sir, I was rather surprised to read in the April Road Way that the RHA has appointed its first chairlady, May I remind you that I was appointed chairman of Manchester and District sub-area in the early 1960s."
Apologising to "Mrs Parkin and all the other ladies who have held such posts within the RHA," Road Way's editor hopes he has got out of trouble by stating: "What we should have said was that Anne Preston was the first functional group chairperson."
Says the sexless Hawk: "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (here we go again). Why doesn't our Dorothy do something about Manchester!
• Midland property firm LCP Properties has formed a partnership with the French shipping and distribution firm Jules Roy, under the trading name LCP Jules Roy (UK) — and secured a contract to import Perrier water by rail to its warehousing and storage operation at Pensnett, Kingswinford, Dudley. Already more than a million bottles a month are stored and distributed by road from there.
A colleague visiting the new premises met former international footballer Derek Dougan, who was carrying on about Northern Ireland doing better in the World Cup than England — apart from England's one World Championship.
"Didn't you ask him," I said, "whether he would rather his team did quite well every world championship or win it?" He hadn't. Today's transport journalists aren't what they used to be!
• If you've got a spare 246,000 to blow (and what haulier worth his salt hasn't) you can purchase a set of 34 ceramic panels, one of a limited and numbered edition of 100, which were commis sioned by the Khachadourian Gallery, Europe's leading art dealer, as exact replicas of ceramic images which decorate the famous Michelin House in London, depicting the early days of motor racing.
Michelin tells us that these finely detailed, hand-painted panels are being manufactured in Stoke-on-Trent and have meant the rediscovery of early glazing and tube lining techniques employed earlier this century.
Enthusiasts have the opportunity of purchasing ceramic panels from the same limited edition as those being donated to the National Motor Museum. A single panel can be purchased for 21,300 plus VAT.
• I note with some interest that the British Safety Council is looking for the girl with the most attractive smile in Britain, the idea being that she can represent the council during the forthcoming "Smile for Safety Week", due to take place between August 25 and 31.
According to James Tye, the council's director general, the "Smile Princess" they are looking for must have the same kind of outlook as Samantha Fox. (Must admit, I hadn't noticed her smile.) The council reckons that thE 400,000 work accidents plus over two million which take place in the home each year causes stress which, in turn, results in accidents — hence the thinking behind the "Smile for Safety Week" — and Samantha.
Presumably she won't appear in any poster materials supporting the campaign — for fear of causing more accidents!