I am a rather surprised at the latest trend in smart, or shall we say pseudo smart Restaurants and so called Gastro pubs.

And you may ask, what is this trend? The trend to put food on anything but plates. I have had lunch served over the last few months on bits of slate, wooden boxes tiles and many other oddities.

I blame these television cookery programmes. The latest one has Chefs competing to cook at a banquet to celebrate the reign of the present Queen.

Some of the extraordinary artefacts they use to serve the food on is nothing short of ridiculous.  I cannot imagine how peculiar presentation can make the food taste any better, and  I would have thought that using all these oddities for serving would slow everything down and ensure that the food came to the table cold.

I am also amazed at the plethora of cookery programmes on prime time TV.

We are shown how to bake bread, make cakes, cook  great meals from scratch, yet the sale of ready meals is at an all time high.

There really is no logic in any of this. Perhaps  we like watching cooking, but not actually doing any.

I can well understand David Dimbleby’s  annoyance at the amount of money spent on the Great British Bake Off which is a dazzling hit and so little spent on Question Time.

I am looking forward to the next year or so when every home produces delicious home made bread and a superb array of home made cakes.

Somehow I think I may have a long wait and sales of ghastly so called white bread made in huge  quantities will continue to flourish. And of course, Mr Kipling will continue to grace our tables.

I was reading in the newspapers earlier in the week a story of the Head Master who sent several pupils home because they were not wearing the correct school uniform.

What was surprising was the reaction of the Parents, who were most annoyed because the Headmaster was asking them to  allow their children to abide by the School rules.

This is as bad as the time a few years ago when Jamie Oliver the Chef tried to bring in healthy meals in a school in Rotherham and the parents were smuggling in burgers and crisps for their little darlings. I really am beginning to think that the World has gone mad.

I wonder what the outcome would be if you worked as a Cook and turned up for work in your gardening clothes? Would you be annoyed and go to the Press demanding to be allowed to wear whatever took your fancy in spite of knowing that your job required that you wear a certain uniform?

How are young people ever going to learn respect for others if the Parents behave in the way these parents have done?

I was in a chain Restaurant recently, and a family came in. there were three children, the youngest of whom was about six .

This child was an absolute menace, screaming at the top of his voice, running riot in the Restaurant, and all the while the parents did not say a word to try and reprimand his behaviour.. I am amazed that the Management did not ask them to leave. I suppose they dare not in case they were accused of abusing his human rights.

While I  do not believe that those in authority of young people should behave like Dictators, I can see no harm in asking  young people to abide by rules which will hopefully stand them I good stead in  their working life.

Or am I being far too old fashioned?

Compared to many continental Countries, we Brits, while having many skills, do not appear to be adept at learning new languages, but, since technology took such a strong hold on us, we are all forced to learn a new language, the language of technology, or, live in a World where everything is incomprehensible.

Sadly, many older people live in this incomprehensible World, and even more sadly many Companies and Businesses do not cater to the needs of those who have difficulty with technology, and as we are all living longer, it is about time that business gave us a little consideration..

We are told to conduct business “On line”, but what about those who do not have a computer?

Is there anything more infuriating than making a phone call only to be met with a bewildering array of options and then being told  that there is a long queue in front of you and it would be better if you conducted your business on line?

I recently made a phone call to my local Council. As usual there was a very long wait interrupted by a very irritating voice assuring me that my call was important and would be answered shortly. When I got through to a human voice, after a wait of twenty minutes, I was told that the person I wanted to speak to was away from their desk.

is it any wonder that we all give up and become complacent? It is simply too difficult to get anything done, unless you possess superhuman tenacity.

I am quite sure that business could be conducted much more efficiently and promptly if we could get to talk to each other, either on the phone or in person, and what really infuriates me is that the telecommunications industry is booming, but it appears that the last thing we can do is talk to each other on the telephone.

When you cannot text, send emails, browse the net, you really are at a loss, and the last thing we appear to be doing with so called smart phones is make a phone call.

I have a horrible vison of a World where we never leave the house or speak to anyone, we simply sit  with a smart phone and all business and socialising is conducted on a piece of electronic equipment.

Learn the new language of technology, or you could end up being terribly lonely.