michael adams wrote:
or: Revenge is a Dish Best Eaten Cold

quote


Beware the suburban supergrass


Jacqueline Maley
Wednesday April 12, 2006
The Guardian


Hidden beneath the tranquil surface of the south-east's pony paddocks and
quiet hedgerows, a troubled people are secretly seething. Curtains are
twitching and plans of sweet revenge are being hatched. Residents are
queueing up to inform on neighbours. In short, England is turning into a
nation of snitches.
And it is all over the use of the humble hosepipe.

Nobody would call me a natural Grauniad reader but I LOVE this. We
have peerages for cash, we have 'were they loans or gifts', we have
punitive Council Tax, Income Tax, Petrol Tax, and every other bloody
tax, taxes that would create riots in any other country - but the
Guardian is remarking upon hosepipe bans as a source of fulmination.
And honestly, I think they're probably correct. Middle England is
going to get infinitely more exercised over the misuse of hoses than it
is over all the other things I cited. How gloriously English and how
infinitely sad.

When the water companies imposed restrictions on the use of hosepipes and
sprinklers, backbone was added to the ban by the setting up of a telephone
hotline to allow anyone to report breaches. To their surprise, the water
companies have been inundated. What started as a trickle has become, in
reverse proportion to the water shortage, a flood.

Thames Water has taken 90 calls in which people have shopped their
neighbours for breaching the restrictions. South East Water has taken 100,
and Three Valleys Water 124. But it is Sussex, Kent

and the Isle of Wight that take the crown for the country's most
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
illustrious sneaks, with the company that serves the region, Southern
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Water, reporting no fewer than 1,500 tipoffs.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Imagine. Who would do such a thing? Tsk.

snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon