Monday 26 October 2009

Back In The Mid 1950's A Program Called Dixon Of Dock Green Was Aired,

he always opened the program standing outside the police station with a reassuring 'evenin' all', we all enjoyed the program not the least for the fact that my grandfather who owned the TV was in fact a ex-policeman, now I have fallen into the trap, he was an ex-police person! but under new guidelines such reassuring salutation have now been well and truly banned, Warwickshire Police's handbook Policing Our Communities, issued to every member of its staff, gives advice on communicating with people, it appears that there has been much confusion by phrases such as this, It states: 'Don't assume those words for the time of day, such as afternoon or evening, have the same meaning.' a force spokesman explained: 'Terms such as afternoon and evening are somewhat subjective in meaning and can vary according to a person's culture or nationality, in many cultures the term evening is linked to time of day when people have their main meal of the day' Oh no! the end of the world as we know it! how will the populace coup with this? it says ' homosexual' is 'best avoided' as the word is 'interpreted differently by many and relates to sexual practice as opposed to sexual orientation', another guide, Essex Police and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, instruct staff to avoid the words 'child, youth or youngster', they could have 'connotations of inexperience, impetuosity and unreliability, or even dishonesty' the guide used by them also states that addressing someone as 'boy' or 'girl' may 'cause offence', it suggests 'young people' instead, the same guide also warns against the phrases 'manning the phones', 'layman's terms' and 'the tax man', for 'making women invisible', it also states: 'Don't use phrases that include black in a negative context, such as black mark, black day.' with all of the problems facing the police today I wonder how much money was squandered on producing this guide, what is worse is that the people that produce them are being paid for by us, and think of the printing costs and the paper it is printed on, oh the trees, the trees, think of the trees!

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