please empty your brain below
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Until I got half way down, I thought you'd suddenly, without warning, gone over to the dark side. Then you went into classic Diamond Geezer. Great!
100andthirty | 06.03.16 - 7:14 a.m. | #
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I share your perspective on this phenomenon. However, in a world of folk that have been tutored to consume such tosh (my house is full of them) I fear the perspective we seem to share may increasingly be on the margin.
Fancy a trip to The Ice Bar anyone..?
Frank F | 06.03.16 - 7:15 a.m. | #
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Nope, my mum would definitely prefer to be treated to a thing she never normally does, e.g. afternoon tea somewhere nice, than be given a cup of tea and a slice of cake at home. I have a feeling this might be one of those areas where women (as a generalisation) are different to men (as a generalisation).
I'm not a mum, but I like afternoon tea too - it feels special, different, out of the ordinary. And yes, it can be pricey if you go somewhere posh - but I've been for afternoon tea at the Ritz (it was a birthday present, and much appreciated) - and though yes, the champagne was OUTRAGEOUSLY overpriced, the food itself was a) very tasty and b) incredibly plentiful - they keep coming back to ask if you want more. (So the trick is to book the last sitting of the day, and it effectively acts as dinner).
I totally agree with you on the "journalism" aspect of articles like the first few paragraphs, though.
mighty mouse | 06.03.16 - 8:27 a.m. | #
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Great post that,DG. Tricky to taste any of those teatime treats with your tongue stuck firmly in your cheek!😉 A decent bottle of wine,not overpriced flowers etc.would win the day with me,but,mostly a few minutes of your busy lives to say hello is all she really wants. I know-I'm a mum! 💐
Jo W | 06.03.16 - 8:33 a.m. | #
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I normally read every word of a DG post, but today I only managed the first couple of paragraphs before flicking to the comments. So glad I did, because it was the comments that alerted me to the fact that this isn't just an advertorial, and I went back and read the rest.
I'm a mum, and I just want some acknowledgement of the fact that it is Mother's Day, a card and a coffee would do.
Amanda | Homepage | 06.03.16 - 8:43 a.m. | #
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Well, there's nothing like a nice cuppa.
Leuconoe | 06.03.16 - 9:20 a.m. | #
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Actually, I've always wanted to do a high tea. Sod the sandwiches and tea, though. Such a waste. Just bring on lots of cakes and bubbly. Not just any cakes, though. I love tiny cakes, where each is exquisitely different and no more than a mouthful each. Must include those 70s petit fours with the almondy icing stuck on with jam, Battenburg cake, real French eclairs and at least one Italianate scrolly thing with that custardy cream stuff. Screw the flowers - such a waste of money!
Antipodean | 06.03.16 - 9:32 a.m. | #
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It was pointed out to me some years ago that the point of men buying flowers was so that they could parade in the street and get admiring glances...the final recipient was the least consideration. Mothers may well indeed enjoy an overpriced tea at a swanky establishment for the very reason that they can 'prove their superiority' as a mum, (and have lots to gossip about later). The fact that the day is supposed to be about our 'mother church' is for the majority either long forgotten or totally irrelevant.
B | 06.03.16 - 9:32 a.m. | #
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My wife and I have had tea at the Ritz as a present and as Mighty Mouse said they do come back asking if you want more. I agree though that Mother's Day should be about our Mums and not someone else's profit.
Tonz | 06.03.16 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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We have two grown-up sons and a cat - and only one of them brought her a present this morning.
timbo | 06.03.16 - 9:43 a.m. | #
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I dread to think the reaction I would have got from my mum if I were to even get her a card when she was alive! Why treat her specially just for one day a year? (I'd probably even have got a rebuke if I made such a "soppy" remark as that in front of her!)
No, I'm glad I was brought up to not fall for all this rampant commercialism but to have a healthy respect on both sides all the time.
Tim | 06.03.16 - 9:44 a.m. | #
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@ Timbo ... Kitties never let you down!
Antipodean | 06.03.16 - 10:20 a.m. | #
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@ Timbo, I hope the 'present' wasn't the same as what I received from my younger cat a few days ago; a small rat, which is now hiding under a cupboard where it can't be caught. I think I'd have preferred afternoon tea, but I suppose it's the thought that counts...
amber | 06.03.16 - 10:25 a.m. | #
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It's like any commercialised package, I don't need to make my own clothes - I buy them, I don't need to grow my own food - I buy it - including already mashed potato.
I can show my love for my mother in a commercialised package, I don't need to think - plus it fits into a neat time slot, her role is to be thankful for my 'effort', I've then hit my performance target, and can move onto the next 'shiny thing'.
| 06.03.16 - 10:48 a.m. | #
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I couldn't believe what's I was reading until
"while the resident pianist tinkles in the corner. "
Sort of gave it away.
Ray
| 06.03.16 - 10:53 a.m. | #
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How unbelievably clever ...
You certainly had be wondering for a while. Brilliant, as always.
HansG | 06.03.16 - 12:54 p.m. | #
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My sentiments exactly!
As a mum to 5 kids in, or just out of their teens (and mostly boys), Mothers day hasn't been part of their vocabulary since they left the 'home made cards' days of primary school!
But I did get hug from one of them today - which is better than anything money can buy.
Cornish Cockney | 06.03.16 - 3:31 p.m. | #
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...wonder if the cable-car had any specials today?
Grumpy Anon | 06.03.16 - 5:43 p.m. | #
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I'd been reading about the resurgent fashion of afternoon tea and rather fancied the idea, but the prices down town were mind-numbing ... then I saw an advert for afternoon tea at Woburn Abbey at less than half the cost of the places you've listed DG ... still a bit expensive I guess but I did it with son & daughter and daughter in law last year and we all thoroughly enjoyed it
don't go knocking Mothers Day, my other daughter and son in law (who run a coffee shop and a restaurant) make a good living out of it, thank you very much
Caz | 06.03.16 - 8:00 p.m. | #
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Dear DG! At the Londonist site I read the terrible news of the Dangleway. Will you be able to manage all right?
dg writes: The week-long closure happens every March. London copes. The Evening Standard wrote a piss-poor article about it, that's all.
Leuconoe | 06.03.16 - 8:46 p.m. | #
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Well My Mother enjoyed her lunch out with my Sister and her daughters, admittedly the live miles from London and so the eye-watering prices don't come into it. I just feel sad I live to far away to be able to join in.
Rational Plan | 06.03.16 - 9:06 p.m. | #
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From Metafilter...
Strange, bitter "satire". Going out for a luxury afternoon tea in the UK is very far from being an activity seen as expected or required on Mother's Day or any other occasion. So this blog post is like sneering about how people are expected to go to a nice restaurant for their birthday or get all dressed up for a big party on New Year's. Actually, it's their choice. All the teas & hotels/restaurants in the blog post here are fictional but if you look at real afternoon tea menus in the UK , they are often much better value than the post pretends (either they are substantially cheaper or they offer unlimited food or alcohol).
diamond geezer | Homepage | 06.03.16 - 10:31 p.m. | #
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