The 274th Emergency Service

Last night I attempted some car repairs on M's daughters car. We thought a fuse had gone. It hadn't. That's my knowledge exhausted then!

I used to get annoyed by the AA adverts describing themselves as the 4th emergency service. More on behalf of The Coastguard and the Mountain Rescue Services who are perhaps a little further up the rescue food chain. Luckily though I guess more people only have involvement with the AA than the others so at least that's a good thing.

The AA themselves though are not above messing things up. Many years ago, back when I were nowt but a lad, I worked for an insurance company. As in most offices we had a file of "funny claims". One involved what had started as a car breakdown. The insured duly rang the AA who sent someone along to sort the problem. Whatever it was that was wrong, it wasn't helped when the patrolman "passed a spark" and set fire to the engine which then engulfed the car. Having not made a claim for many years I don't know whether you still have to provide a drawing of road layout etc but this insured had drawn a picture of his car in flames, a stick man running around brandishing a spanner and the AA van with the words Arsonists Anonymous on the side. I hope we paid out, if only for him keeping his sense of humour.

There were two other claims in there I really liked. One, and we shouldn't really laugh but it just read funny when confronted with it, was for a man who lost his arm due to an accident. In the section where it asked what problems he had since his injury, he wrote that when swimming he could only go round in circles. The other, a household claim for some stolen cd's as part of a burglary. The broker, perhaps not up to date with the latest in 1970's beat combos listed one, not as Mott The Hoople, but Muff the Hoopie. I can't help sniggering whenever any of their records get played. Then again, it could have been my dad who once went out to buy a record by Vangelis and came back with one by Van Halen. Parents eh!