Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I'll fight the little Hitlers in coffee bars

David Aaronovitch is pledging to fight the little Hitlers in coffee bars.

"LAST WEEK my friend Walter had a citizen’s arrest effected upon him in a North London street by a coffee bar manager. Walter is a writer, middle-aged and of transparent honesty, and most certainly had not done what he was accused of — viz, half-inching a salmon sandwich from his local branch of this particular chain, and making a slow dash for freedom. The police were called, no sandwich was found, the coffee bar manager departed, without apology, to sulk among his sugar sachets.

Walter is American and I had to explain to him why this had happened. It was a cold day and he was wearing a balaclava. To pub managers, coffee bar managers and other persons in debateable authority, headgear now suggests one thing only: a determination to thwart their CCTV systems. "

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