Blue Monday, 2015

Blue Monday - no, I'm not talking about the fabulous 80s song by New Order, but another named day to add to our calendars along with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

This year Blue Monday fell on 19th January, and is said to be the most depressing day of the year.  Well, if watching the news that lunchtime was anything to go by, I certainly found it depressing.

Firstly, we had a report about children in Kenya being tear-gassed by Police.  They were protesting because their playground had been taken from them over the Christmas break and was now owned by developers.

We then had scenes of people in Northern Ireland boiling snow to get water to drink, wash and flush their loos as they had no running water due to a dispute about pensions for water company staff. 

Then, bizarrely, these were followed by the story about the five-year old boy whose parents were invoiced £16 for a no-show at a birthday party at a dry ski slope. 

While children in Kenya are having their playgrounds stolen by developers and then getting tear-gassed by Police for protesting, we have five-year olds in this country being pursued through the small claims court.  Unbelievable.

I'm sure it was annoying that the little boy didn't turn up to the party.  It was rude of his parents not to inform the host that he couldn't make it due to a previous commitment.

But it's extraordinary that another parent thought the best way to deal with this was through the small claims court. 

As an aside, I also thought that this was an elaborate excursion for a group of five year olds.

Anyone else long for the simpler times when a child's birthday meant a tea party with jelly and ice cream, cheese and pineapple on sticks and party games like pass the parcel?  Nobody would feel inclined to sue over uneaten cocktail sausages and jam sandwiches.  Perhaps it's time for a retro party revival...