I understand that in the latter end of the year the EC is to bring out a directive on ageism. This means that we will no longer be able to call somebody an old man, or woman dependant on their sex of cos.

The sale of birthday cards with any reference of age on will be taken from our shelves. No more congratulations on a 21st birthday.

Is this EC gone mad or is it me?

Don`t they annoy you.

Why can`t people be allowed to be proud of the age they are, apparently if you accept your age and enjoy life, you add years on to your life and lower your blood pressure.

Not sure this thread would lower your blood pressure , to me its people sticking their noses where they are not wanted.

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
Is this EC gone mad or is it me?

It is you.

What a laugh you've provided for me though. :hihi:

Have you started thus rumour BoppinBruce? Or are you just spreading it, unquestioningly, like the previous straight banana myth? Whichever, thanks for the laugh. :heyhey:

PS If you've got any more urban myths about the EC - please do share them with us all. :thumbsup:

So I won't be thrown in gaol for buying a card with "Happy 18th Birthday" on it after all?

phew!! fankew, redrobbo, I can sleep easy in my bed tonight :)




*slaps* Bruce for the wind-up .... although I do think that as we're talking about an ageism directive including a ban on the use of "old biddy/dear/woman/granny/moo/tart/slapper" et cetera would be an excellent idea. And can I be the moderator for it please? can i? :P

If it is true about the E.U. directive----thanks be to God !It's the only sensible directive they've ever dreamed up. The less people know about my age , the better.

There is a EC directive about it but they arn't going to stop selling the cards, i think it just applies to in the workplace- e.g- your not allowed to send cards like that incase it causes undue distress- it was in the daily mail this morning!!

Well, if it was in th Daily (Scare the pants off the middle classes) Mail; it must be true.

I have heard that they are banning overtime so we can all only work 48 hours a week. Phew!

Originally posted by scottf
There is a EC directive about it but they arn't going to stop selling the cards, i think it just applies to in the workplace- e.g- your not allowed to send cards like that incase it causes undue distress- it was in the daily mail this morning!!

I stand corrected. If it was in the Daily Mail then (coughs, and clears throat) it must be true! :roll:

I thought the directive was to do with putting age restictions on job advert's?

The age card thing is prob just someone (as usual) imagining the extreme of what 'could' but won't happen.

Just look at the working time directive - when that came out we were all handed opt-out forms at work to fill in!

Originally posted by BoppinBruce
I understand that in the latter end of the year the EC is to bring out a directive on ageism. This means that we will no longer be able to call somebody an old man, or woman dependant on their sex of cos.

The sale of birthday cards with any reference of age on will be taken from our shelves. No more congratulations on a 21st birthday.

Is this EC gone mad or is it me?

The EC Employment Regulation on Age aims to combat age discrimination in the workplace. It will make it illegal for an employer to choose who they recruit solely on the basis of age (there will be a number of sensible exemptions to this I'm sure).

Your interpretation of the employment regs is rather over-simplified (but then the Daily Mail does have a tendency for this) and I can assure you that the legislation is not simply about semantics or political correctness. It's about ensuring everybody is recruited on merit and not their DOB.

Well, here's an actual article, no mention of birthday cards,
UK must prepare for new anti-ageism law
17:20pm 7th October 2003
A nationwide campaign is to be launched next year to gear up for a new law which will ban age discrimination at work, a minister announced.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said she wanted firms to prepare for the introduction of legislation in 2006 aimed at outlawing ageism.
She said said that would include job adverts which specify that candidates must be "young".
Ms Hewitt, 54, said age discrimination cost the UK economy £16 billion and an extra £5 billion in benefits and lost taxes.
The minister told a London conference she was shocked at statistics showing that one in three people over the age of 45 were unemployed, which she described as an "appalling waste".
"It's not just an 'older' issue. Younger people are sullied with a perception that they're inexperienced, unreliable, irresponsible, more likely to throw sickies and lacking organisational skills."
Ageism is now the most common form of discrimination, accounting for two out of five work-related cases.
"The problem is getting worse. There's no reason why we should be thrown on the scrapheap at a certain age."
Ms Hewitt added that the Government still had an open mind about retirement age, adding: "The challenge now is to make sure everyone has the opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, rising prosperity.
Source "Daily Mail", link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=198840&in_page_id=1770

Phew, no mention of birthday cards. Dont forget mine then. I will be into my fifty eleventh year on July 10th. Thank you

Most of these stories are indeed myths. The EU has become so concerned about them that they publish a regular dossier of refutations.

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/press_communication/facts/index_en.htm

here you will find the European Commission's response to the stories about bent bananas, straight cucumbers, banned rubber ducks etc.

Some of these stories confuse a policy idea or proposal with an actual policy. Others involve misinterpretations or exaggerations. Some of them are just urban myths.

Before we absolve the EU entirely though of all manner of daftness, we should remember that it still operates the Common Agricultural Policy (which although being reformed, is still riddled with absurdities) and also has been responsible for numerous examples of financial waste, mismanagement and indeed fraud. For example, MEPs can still claim lavish travel expenses, whether these expenses are incurred or not.

If age-ism is to banned , does this mean that we could be seeing , "our Tony " zimmer-framing up to the dispatch box in 2025 ? I know he said he was going to pack it in ----but who ever believes him ?
Or could we witness a 100-year old John Prescott , still snoozing away on the Front Bench whilst a lackey wipes his dribbles away and delivers his telegram from King Charles the Third ?
The whole scenario doesn't bear thinking about .

Originally posted by redrobbo
I stand corrected. If it was in the Daily Mail then (coughs, and clears throat) it must be true! :roll:

Don't blame me - its my father who gets that - id rather have the times or the independant anyday!!!

Is it only me that's noticed the suspicious link in timing between this announcement & the reinstatement of Blunder Man Blunkett into pensions & benefits? :suspect: :suspect: :suspect:

With the tabooing of 'age' then pensions will become obsolete!

:clap: Nice one :thumbsup:

Don Kiddick ,

Well , I said it all looked a bit iffy in my 2nd. posting.We could well see the whole of the present Front Bench staggering , wheezing , drooling and dribbling to 2025.
By then the Tories will be confined to the Isle of Skye [ minus a pension ] , Chavvism will the dominant culture and the most popular degree from Oxbridge will be Rap Singing.
Blair will have invaded France and Japan [no reason given , except to prevent terrorism ] and everyone will work until they drop--------except Civil Servants who will be given the option of retiring at 45 , owing to the strain of their jobs ; policemen will be zooming around in high-powered wheelchairs [ as will villains ] and firemen will only tackle ground floor blazes.
Long Live Brittania !

"Younger people are sullied with a perception that they're inexperienced, unreliable, irresponsible, more likely to throw sickies and lacking organisational skills"


ha ha ha ha ha

I think the whole question of age-ism , belongs with sex-ism i.e. it is not relevant to a person's employability , except in the most extreme or obvious case.
I think that people mature on three levels-----the physical , the intellectual and the emotional. The first two are relatively easy to measure and progress has been made in the third and the emotional factor is important. Imagine employing a man or woman as a police -emergency telephone operator who was physically and mentally quite capable of doing the job----and then it's discovered that he or she is a , "drama queen" or easily gets hysterical !
In an ideal world , it would be great if people could be tested accurately in all three areas to see if they were suitable for a given job------but to judge someone solely on their gender or/and age seems to me childish , out-of date and simplistic. It shouldn't even enter into a potential employer's thinking unless there was an objective reason to employ a gender-specific person [girls' boarding school supervisor , for example].
In other words if a 72 or an 18 year old man or woman is physically and mentally capable of doing a job and they seem emotionally mature too , then give them the job !

I'd quite like it if birthday cards were banned. Three quid for a bit of laminated card containing a tired witticism about animals, beer, saggy bits or sexual non-performance has always seemed like a total waste of money to me.

Added to this, the experience of going into a card shop is truly horrifying. They are always full of screaming, giddy teenagers, those teeth-grindingly annoying musical cards, and cheap fluffy teddy bears being snapped up as if they are gold bullion.

And if I receive another one of those cards with the black-and-white photograph featuring straight-laced husbands and wives from the 50s, with a caption about farting on the bottom, I will not be responsible for my own actions.

Originally posted by Greenback
I'd quite like it if birthday cards were banned. Three quid for a bit of laminated card containing a tired witticism about animals, beer, saggy bits or sexual non-performance has always seemed like a total waste of money to me.

Hear, hear! There are far better things to spend £3 on. I actually buy most of my cards in the January sales - if you go to M&S in Meadowhall over by the home stuff (2nd floor) they often have cards reduced from £3 to 25p. This year I did get caught by my partner buying her a 10p Valentines Card though. The selling point was when I explained that it left more money for champagne, flowers etc... :thumbsup:

In conclusion, reduced greetings cards excellent, getting caught buying them - not so good.

JonJParr

Yeah , but what happens now if she catches you buying champagne and flowers at cut price ?
I suppose you could talk quickly about holidays in the West Indies or second honeymoons in Bali ?

Originally posted by Fareast
JonJParr

Yeah , but what happens now if she catches you buying champagne and flowers at cut price ?
I suppose you could talk quickly about holidays in the West Indies or second honeymoons in Bali ?

1. I don't often buy her flowers and if I do they're a surprise so she's not there.

2. Champagne: I'm a wine enthusiast so I'm extremely pedantic about any wines that I buy. Luckily she trusts my judgement.

3. A second honeymoon in Bali would be difficult given that we're not married yet! But a holiday to the West Indies sounds good! Who's paying though?