WASHED AND READY TO EAT

It's difficult to know what to make of this claim from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. He adds greater texture to his pasta so that it 'holds more sauce'.  This begs a number of questions: Does more sauce really cling to his enhanced pasta? Is sauce being clingy really such a good thingy? And if the sauce weren't 'held' by the pasta, what disaster would befall the diner?  Surely they could just spoon it up from the plate or lick their bowl clean?  

If you were a retail store, how fussy would you be about who worked as an assistant on the shop floor? I reckon you're entitled to be choosy. After all, you probably have quite a few applicants. And these people are going to be ambassadors for your business and have direct contact with your customers. So would you be interested in a personable young woman, who's just started in the Sixth Form and is looking for a Saturday job? Someone who got eight A*s at GCSE, is currently studying for A-Levels and is bright and ambitious? A person who has already gained shop experience on a voluntary basis with a charity and has direct experience of retail customer service? Given that she'd be working for minimum wage, I'd say this was a pretty good deal, wouldn't you? But when one of my daughters recently applied for a part-time role advertised at Boots, she couldn't even get an interview. Why? She was rejected on the basis of bizarre online tests. The first set of ...