It’s been a good week for ... drinking out
It’s not exactly the dining carriage on the Orient Express, but it’s a step up from a can of super-lager and a curled-up cheese and pickle sandwich from the buffet trolley. A new fad in railway boozing is trending on Twitter. Thanks to #trainwine, it’s now acceptable – nay, positively encouraged – to pass your time on the train with a tipple, although probably not on the daily commute.
This is aided and abetted by station supermarkets stocking those dinky little wine bottles and a handy supply of dainty plastic glasses. Add a wee Scotch egg and you have a veritable hamper. How jolly.
This is somewhat removed from my association of drink and trains, growing up as I did in North Lanarkshire where Buckfast is a popular beverage. In those days, alcohol on trains was usually a late-night affair and tended to put you in fear for your wellbeing.
I don’t anticipate #tonictrainwine trending any time soon.
It’s been a bad week for ... eating out
Author Bill Bryson has shamed bad-mannered Britons after outing a well-heeled cafe patron who left a derisory tip ... because she thought no-one was watching.
The writer said he's mourning the loss of social decency after seeing the woman in the Lake District leave just 10p in a tip jar having spent £20.
Bryson said the “quietly disgraceful” act was just one example of middle-class Britons behaving badly. “I am guessing she assumed [the jar] was full of coins already and that hers would disappear among many others," he wrote, "but when I stepped up I could see that the bowl had a solitary 10p coin in it.”
“Is this becoming a feature of British life – behaving in quietly disgraceful ways when you think no-one is watching?”
According to Debrett’s guide to etiquette, while tipping in the UK is discretionary, 10 per cent is the going rate.
Perhaps the lady misread Debrett’s and didn’t see the “er cent” bit. Should we give her the benefit of the doubt – which is, after all, another form of social decency?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here