Chris Worfolk's Blog

Despite little success last time I complainted to Sainsbury’s, I decided it was worth one more go when I had another complaint.

To whom it may concern:

Earlier today, I visited your branch located on The Headrow in Leeds.

Upon arriving at the tills and scanning my items I was asked to produce identification to complete my purchase. I have recently turned 25 and therefore was expecting not to be flagged by your Check 25 policy, given I have now been able to legally purchase alcohol for 8 years and nice as it is to think, there is no way I look 9 years younger than I actually am.

More to the point, however, is the fact that I was attempting to purchase non-alcoholic wine. It therefore baffles and frustrates me that I would have to produce identification to prove I am over the age of 18, for a product which is alcohol free.

I asked the assistant who approved the item for me why such a product would be classified as restricted, but she said she didn’t know.

I believe such a restriction should be removed from such items, to avoid further aggregation for your customers.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,
Chris Worfolk

Luckily, this one was slightly more fruitful. Well, I say that, this time they said that it was indeed a problem and generally a bit silly, but there wasn’t exactly a promise to do much about it.

I contacted the store and spoke with Lisa, the Customer Service Manager, who advised the checkout automatically prompts colleagues to ask for identification when items are scanned. Lisa apologises if this has inconvenienced you and advised she will have your feedback logged for future reference.

We appreciate you taking the time to make us aware of this issue and look forward to seeing you in store again soon.

Still, better than nothing. And way better than Co-op who don’t even respond to your complaints.

Last month we held the first ever Leeds Transhumanists meetup at the Veritas bar in Leeds city centre.

Last week, we hosted a house party for Atheist Society as part of the traditional way the society parties through the festival.

With Blackhouse offering 40% off your food bill this month, I decided to take Elina there for lunch.

Despite being tempted by the Kobe steak given the discount, I eventually settled for a nice rump steak while Elina went for the posh surf and turf. As usual the steak was cooked to perfection, though I was a little disappointed by the rest of the experience. The steak knives didn’t cut the steak very well and sitting directly under the low hanging lights made for an uncomfortably warm dining experience. Still, always a pleasure to eat there.

I try to visit the Royal Armouries on a regular basis because it’s a fantastic resource located right on my doorstep (and it’s totally free!).

So with some time off work and Elina here, we decided to head down for a look around.

Unfortunately, Elina’s week over here had fallen in half term which resulted in the museum being full of kids which is annoying. I was disappointed to see that they didn’t really have anything new either, except for a very small exhibit on peace, which I thought could have been a lot better.

You’ll notice in the second photo that Princess Diana is still making an appearance. Also, they spelt brother without the R in one of the posters in the self-defence selection – well spotted Elina.

For my birthday, we headed out to Cattle Grid for some steak.

There was a total of fourteen of us, making us not only the biggest group in the restaurant, but also bigger than all the other groups put together lol. I was particularly honoured by the attendance of Katie Barr, Sarann and Moz, who attended despite their vegetarian and vegan lifestyles!

As with my first visit, I went for the ribs which were excellent, but overall I was a little disappointed – the food took a long time to arrive and it didn’t arrive all at once. Jonni also had to send his steak back. Never the less, I had an enjoyable meal and finished off with their strawberry ice cream, which is delicious though suggests I didn’t order enough meat.

Last week, I reached middle age.

Most people wouldn’t consider themselves middle aged, but when you lead the kind of lifestyle I do, 50 seems a good innings to reach. That said, most people consider middle aged to be above what it is anyway – average life expectancy is 78, that means middle age is 39. So if you’ve hit 40, you need to stop kidding yourself 😉 .

I spent most of my birthday lounging around before finally getting up at 2pm, having done some extensive research as to whether UK Border Force is as good as Nothing To Declare: Australia’s Front Line. Turns out, it isn’t even close.

I would like to thank everyone for their birthday wishes, cards and presents, it’s all very much appreciated!

Last Tuesday, Atheist Society showed the documentary film, Jesus Camp.

We showed it back when I was involved in the society back in 2008 and it contains some amazing quotes. With a fresh set of faces watching it, people were once again shocked and appalled, with some Christians who attended voicing their shock to James at the end.

Luckily, of course, it isn’t representative of a lot of Christians, but it’s worrying to think many evangelicals across the United States could share similar views.

I’m sure that most of you have, by now, heard the news with Sir Jimmy Savile has passed away. Not just a larger than life character, Jimmy was also a true inspiration in his tireless devotion to the charities he supported. Not to mention that his death now leaves us with Chris Moyles and Scary Spice as the biggest names to come out of Leeds.

Still, at least we can remember him by supporting the campaign to name the Leeds Arena the Jimmy Savile Arena. That will show Scarborough and their silly statue.

With Elina back in Leeds, I decided to take her out for dinner and despite my general dislike for Italian food, with Jamie’s Italian being one of the few restaurants in Leeds I haven’t eaten at, we settled on that as a venue.

You can’t book, so you just have to turn up and wait. We were told on arrival that the wait was around 20-25 minutes. We were handed a pager and sent to the bar area, which was too small for the number of people waiting, but otherwise fine.

The wait ended up being around 15 minutes and we were soon seated and ordering. The food was good, and served fast, but I felt we were generally a little rushed so they could turn over the table. Overall, it was a perfectly pleasant dining experience, but nothing special.