Are the Brits Going Bonkers?

September 2, 2010 | Uncategorized

Has someone put something into the beer in Britain?

I’m beginning to wonder because of two news articles I read recently.

The first, in the UK newspaper the Telegraph, revealed that the staff of the British hotel chain Travelodge had reunited more than 75,000 teddy bears with their owners over the past year.
75,000? It seemed odd that so many kids would lose their teddies when on holiday with Mum and Dad.

But guess what — the chain found it wasn’t kids who were losing their teddies, it was adults.

After taking calls from a large number of “frantic businessmen and women” phoning about forgotten teddies, the chain surveyed 6,000 Britons about the matter and found that more than half of Brits still have their teddy bear from childhood. It seems that British adults feel sleeping with a teddy is a “comforting and calming” way to end the day.

But what really caught my eye was that 25% of British businessmen said they took their teddy away with them on business trips because it reminded them of home. If that ever catches on in the USA it could put the blow-up doll people out of business.

Next I saw the newscasts and read the reports about British Airways apologizing to 275 exceptionally terrified passengers on a London to Hong Kong flight after an automated emergency warning mistakenly told them they were about to crash into the sea.

An automated warning? You’re going to die and they can’t even tell you in person? Oh, maybe it’s an added fee for that service.

A spokesman for British Airways said an investigation was under way to discover whether it was human error or a computer glitch, adding “our cabin crew immediately made an announcement following the message advising customers that it was an error and that the flight would continue as normal.”

But not before 63 businessmen had dived into their carry-ons looking for teddy.