Gleeful absurdity of sharpener rule

10:17am Thursday 22nd March 2012 in Latest

The offending sharpener The offending sharpener

IF you heard a police appeal being broadcast warning you that a dangerous character was on the loose and he was armed, you might assume he had a knife or a gun.

You wouldn’t think for a moment that he would be armed with... a pencil sharpener.

But according to a member of staff in a 99p store, a pencil sharpener is deemed to be “lethal” or “dangerous” in the wrong hands.

And that’s why a girl of 14 was told she could not buy a Glee stationery set.

You have to wonder what whoever dreamed up that rule thinks the consequences could be if Glee stationery sets fell into the wrong hands. Why, there could be an army of teenagers out there causing untold havoc by listening to their favourite TV series and its show choir... while dangerously sharpening their pencils.

The case isn’t really about pencil sharpeners... but about well-intentioned health and safety rules that fall into the wrong hands.

Comments(8)

Glashen says...
10:44am Thu 22 Mar 12

About 40 years ago an uncle of mine told me that "common" sense was one of the "rarest" things in the world, as true today as it was then.

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a.g.o.g. says...
11:53am Thu 22 Mar 12

I think it must be the sharpened pencil that is seen as the danger.
So ballpoint pens and the like must be outlawed too!!!

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The Renegade Master says...
11:59am Thu 22 Mar 12

My hands could be used as a lethal weapon. Would the dozy shop assistant ban me from the store for having them attached to the end of my arms?

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Phixer says...
12:38pm Thu 22 Mar 12

The problem is that those of us earning and paying tax are supporting too many brain-dead morons who have nothing better to do than think up another way of exercising their jobsworth mentality. Such power over the 'plebs'.

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s-pb2 says...
6:45pm Thu 22 Mar 12

As i said in the same article elsewhere. If the shop is refusing to sell this item on safety grounds, why are they stocking an item which is obviously targeted at under 18s? Its hypocrisy.

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TerreHaute says...
7:48pm Thu 22 Mar 12

Expect to see many more of these stories to replace the footy....

I wanted to see a picture of the girl looking Glum (rather than Gleeful)!

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IDONTKNOWIFITISTRRUE says...
10:33am Sat 24 Mar 12

She was probably going to do something that involved the blade, a toothbrush and some superglue. I leave it to your imagination (:o))

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ashleycross says...
9:07pm Tue 27 Mar 12

I've unscrewed the spare blade on pencil sharpener to change it when it had got blunt and was really shocked by how sharp the replacement blade was. I've seen scars on girls this ones age from self harm on the arms and neck and it is a pretty unpleasant phenomena. Through previous work I had the privilege of sometimes being the first person to be told about these injuries.I'm not suggesting this girl would do that, but you can't tell which children do just by looking at them so the law is there to protect all children. The echo is pretty quick to condemn when a child is injured yet immediately ridicules anyone who protects them. The editor needs to decide for policy purpose which side he is on, caring and responsible or jeering at and humiliating those of us who care for children's welfare. Incidentaly I will be congratulating the 99p shop when I get the chance.

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