Steve Litchfield

So there I was in Toys'r'us. And by the checkout they had a huge pile of crisp packets, with a sign saying '5p each', with best before dates about to expire. No worries, I thought, and picked up a handful. When my turn in the (only) queue came, the checkout operator had to call the store manager over the tannoy and get him to come over and authorise the 'special' purchase with his master key. This took around five minutes, during which time customers behind me in the queue were giving up on their pile of would-be purchases and leaving the store in frustration. What an absolute farce - it would have been far cheaper for Toys'r'us to have simply binned the crisps, or (better) given them away in a big pile saying 'Please take', and generating a little goodwill. This was the second similar retail experience I've had in the last week, in each case demonstrating that there are people in business who have absolutely no idea what they're doing...

Hopefully a few people will agree with this rant at least.... I keep hearing about why our governments, companies and householders shouldn't bother with renewable energy sources (wind/sun/tidal, etc.) because they don't make financial sense. What rubbish and how short sighted! When other energy sources are failing in 30 years time and electricity and gas are 10 times the current level, there are going to be billions of people regretting not investing (yes, INVESTING) in alternative energy sources NOW. What on earth are we going to run our civilisation on when the gas and oil and coal run out? All nuclear? Hope not. Those dismissing renewable energy installations because their 'pay back' time is 20 years (at most) should realise that the 20 year figure is at current energy levels. Multiply your current fuel costs by four and then the payback time becomes an awful lot more attractive. Renewable energy is about investing in the future, not saving a few pennies or cents now...