On the Dot...

Men have to wear a tie and jacket, and lawyers their robe to appear in court. A lady lawyer has been noted wearing flip flops in the courtroom in summer.

Day Dreams

Some months ago this column had commented about the spotlight at the foot of the statue of Our Lady to the left of the main entrance of St Luke's Hospital. It is placed in such a manner that the light throws the shadow of the hands directly onto the face, leaving it in darkness. One hopes that this light fell out of order on September 23, rather than that it is being left switched off as an alternative to changing the angle of the fixture.

StoryTelling

Children in certain primary schools still have the age-old Denfil series for their Maltese reading lessons. The hackneyed stories, dating from a time when, for instance, a hobza cost as much as a panina does today, are illustrated with dated, stilted pictures. Is it possible that no alternative has yet been forthcoming?

Rank and Filing

Although it is almost a fortnight into the start of the scholastic year, some instructors, teachers, and facilitators are still being told to report for work at a school different from the one at which they started. With B.Ed graduates rather thick on the ground, one would have thought that lists of staff and their detailing would have been drawn up during the summer holidays, so that as little disruption as possible would take place during the schooling period proper.

Smelling Salts

The smell emanating from several fast food restaurants may be detected from as far as two blocks away. This leads one to think that not all of them are conscientious enough when it comes to cleaning or replacing their filters. The smell permeates the upholstery and even clothes hanging on the washing lines of households nearby. A little more courtesy would perhaps ease the problem.

Letter Perfect

When postmen did their rounds to collect letters at around 7 a.m., most areas could count on letters being delivered within the day. These days, with the first post being collected at 11 a.m. or later, things are not so certain. A letter posted at Valletta on Wednesday arrived at Sta Venera on Saturday. And, yes, the letter was properly stamped and addressed and also included the full name of the addressee and the post code.

AirBorne

At the beginning of the year, we were told that surveys indicated that seven localities - Blata l-Bajda, Fgura, Fontana, Gzira, Naxxar, Pietà, Senglea - had an airborne lead content way above the standards set by the European Union. It would be interesting to find out whether this situation has changed.

Cat Mints

The person who goes around feeding stray carts in Floriana is still at it. What's more, one of the sites chosen for this messy business is right across the road from the offices of the local council, a few metres down from the Scout Shop in the direction of St Anne Street. Unless this person is stopped, with the cat population being simultaneously neutered, there will definitely be more and more cats soiling private property, or getting squashed and splayed in the middle of the road when they get caught between the wheels of moving vehicles.

Car(para)bolic

Car Free Day has come and gone and many people are still nonplussed at the lack of coordination with which it was carried out. In a masterstroke of mistiming, it was held on the first day of the scholastic year for the majority of Maltese students; it was held on a Monday, the traditional day for settling bills and visiting government departments, and shopping for the week ahead. To top it all, participating localities did not keep to the same time-tables; why was there this discrepancy?

Bed and Break

Through no fault of their own, patients at St Luke's Hospital are having to suffer the indignity of lying in beds in the middle of corridors, awaiting an empty bed into which to be moved for an iota more of privacy. Meanwhile, of course, the doctors, nurses, and orderlies must do their duties and so the situation becomes even more embarrassing. What they don't need is being talked down to as if they and their register numbers were one and the same thing.

Helping Hands

Trying to get through to the Sedqa Helpline is not as easy as it is made out to be. On Thursday, September 23, up to 11.30 p.m., when one phoned sporadically, the line was always engaged. Seeing that people who are in need of this service may not always find it convenient to ring, and may obviously not be in a position to leave a message and be called back, it is perhaps worth rethinking about whether there ought to be a call for paid part-timers, rather than volunteers, to man this service.