belgianwaffle

Princess

What we won’t be getting, if Ryanair take over Aer Lingus


Posted in: Princess, Travel

We flew to Dublin this morning with Aer Lingus. The air hostesses were lovely to us. They smiled at our children. They helped us carry them about. They saved our sanity. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to customers but Michael O’Leary doesn’t seem to encourage it. He revels in the fact that Ryanair has only one part time person on customer service. OK, yes, it is cheap.
But it would never have let us enjoy the letter below. You will recall that we lost travel doggy and wrote a pathetic fax to Aer Lingus. This is the reply we received (some grammatical improvements were made because I’m like that and I can’t promote improper use of the apostrophe):

Ref # 6171

Without Prejudice

Dear Mr. Waffle,

Thank you for your correspondence.

I am sorry to learn your daughter left her favourite toy on flight EI638, when you travelled with us recently.

Despite a thorough search, I regret that so far we have been unable to locate these items. Please accept my sincere apologies on behalf of Aer Lingus for the inconvenience caused.

However, in common with other international carriers Aer Lingus do not accept any responsibility for passengers’ hand baggage with the onus of its safe carriage reverting directly to the passenger themselves. If you have travel insurance or made your booking using a credit or debit card, offering automatic travel insurance, you should notify them as soon as possible regarding any claim you wish to make from them as soon as possible.

If I can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for choosing Aer Lingus. Your support is much appreciated.

Sincerely
SCW
Consumer Response Representative

Self-knowledge


Posted in: Princess

I was pretending to bite the Princess on the arm for comic effect, she squealed in delight and then suddenly lost interest. She said to me coldly “stop it, Mummy, I’m not for eating”. What are you for then, sweetheart?” I asked, slightly maliciously. She rolled her eyes and said “I’m for talking”.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for


Posted in: Princess, Twins

And then again, possibly not.  Please see the Princess on video admonishing her students in the language of Voltaire.

In other news, as of yesterday, I am no longer breastfeeding.  The boys have tired of beating dry gourds and even Michael has definitively moved to bottle.  No more business trips with the breast pump then.

And finally, I bought wild boar in the supermarket this morning.  Why?  Because it was there.  Do I regret this?  Deeply.  How long does it need to be marinated before it can be eaten?  Five days.  Sigh.

Double standards


Posted in: Princess, Twins

What I may not want to hear my children saying when I am old:

She loves it, really.

She’ll have stopped crying 5 minutes after we walk out the door.

It’s good for her socialisation skills; I’m sure it wouldn’t be good for her to be at home all the time.

I like to see her making friends with all those other people; it’s just a pity they all seem to catch each other’s bugs.

The staff are great; you can tell that they really like old people.

I’m glad to see that they haven’t got a television; it’s great that they’re devising games and songs for them instead.
Good God, am I paraphrasing a Cat Steven’s song here?

Not for vegetarians


Posted in: Princess

Princess (staring at a glassy eyed fish on a marble slab): That fish is dead.
Me: Yes it is honey.
Her: Bad for the fish.
Me (neutrally): Hmm, I suppose.
Her: But good for us.