Pret a Brit!

It was Fraser Nelson at The Coffee House who pointed me in the direction of an intriguing article in The Evening Standard by Joshi Herrmann.  Nelson, like just about everyone else, including Boris [mayor of London] who made a fuss about it, had noticed that it is virtually impossible to be served in a London cafe or pub by anyone who is English.  In particular, he pointed at Pret a Manger who appear to employ only foreigners in their London shops.  (For the benefit of my foreign readers, Pret a Manger is a highly successful chain of take-away sandwich/snack outlets.)  Joshi Herrmann is a young journalist with The Standard and he went along to work a shift at a Pret a Manger branch.  It is a fascinating article and you can see instantly why Brit 'youfs' and 'youfettes' are unlikely to suit their corporate needs and requirements.  I must admit to being very surprised at their management approach to their staff and to their new recruits.  This includes a 'test day' in which the recruit is judged by his or her fellow workers!  You can see instantly why so many of our very own, dearly beloved, grunt-shuffling mouth-breathers fail to make the grade given that punctuality, courtesy, mental agility, team work and communication skills are essential.  In this 'septic' Isle there are several monstrous crimes committed against us by those who should know better but few reach the abysmal cruelty of what passes for our 'edukashun servis'.  Time, I think, for one teacher in three to be shot pour encourager les autres!

 

Comments

[Whyaxye]

Working as I do in Further Education (i.e. a college for 16+ students) I am tempted to say "guilty as charged - shoot me now!". But on second thoughts, spare me, as the pension is not too far off. And the fact that there is a limited amount that anyone can do against the "entitlement culture" which is encouraged by parents and (apparently) secondary school teachers.

I think we need to compare like with like here. Many of our youngsters are bright, sparky, polite, and determined to succeed. The ones who we are trying to point towards the front-line customer service jobs, however, are the ones who messed up their GCSEs at school. And a large part of this group are the ones with big psychological and social problems, and a sense of absolute entitlement. They tend to see constructive and kindly criticism as a personal attack. How come we have now got so many of these? Were they there is the past, and had the rough edges eventually knocked off them by national service and workplace culture? Or have we forgotten how to be parents? They are the ones that really worry me. With keen Eastern Europeans and Africans flocking to our shores, they haven't a hope.

[dearieme]

Yeah, I think Duffers identified the wrong mob to shoot.

[David Duff]

You are excused the firing squad, 'W', because working in 'Further Education' is, I suspect, more like working in basic education. At least, it is according to a friend of mine who works on attempting to train lads for apprenticeships and has to begin by showing them how to do simple arithmetic! Good luck!