La Tosca Gelateria, the scoop.

Today is St Patrick's Day in Ireland, and pretty much here aswell since a coach load of young Irish are in town.

Now it is clear to the Italians that we are English (or German sometimes) because of various telltale indicators - 1) we do not wear clothes with Union Jack flags embroidered on the sleeves or chest, 2) we do not fondle (even) our own genitals in public and 3) I know which lane to be in at roundabouts...but the Irish go even a step further and wear large leprechaun hats, paint clover leaves on their cheeks and carry Irish flags.

The Italians love a saint-day, every day is the day of at least one saint, a child's saint day is celebrated as much as their birthday, the Irish obviously love today.

So why do the English not?

When is St George's day? Should I paint a red cross on my cheek and carry a flag? Do I get a day off? I think, unfortunately, not.

Instead of new ideas to swear patronage to the Queen, or to fly flags over council buildings, why not start giving everyone some reason to celebrate St George. England has it's issues, as does every country, but pride has to start somewhere in order to thrive.

Mind you, at least the UK does not employ the same PR people as South Africa.

On Sky News, South Africa Tourism is sponsoring a sports update segment, and has a nice graphic animation of the flag and a catchy slogan. For the purposes of the text where I can not strike thru a word I will use a different colour...but the slogan comes up on screen saying "South Africa. It's impossible." then a second later the "im" bit is crossed out. So...

"South Africa. It's impossible."

How long did this take, how much were they paid, and what alternatives did they reject before plumping for "It's impossible."?

South Africa, "It's not very nice." or
"Don't go there." or
"You can't go out at night." or even
"It's unlikely you will go home without being mugged."

We know some South Africans who live here now and they say it is a beautiful place, there are places to go and places to not go...but surely there are better slogans to use to entice tourists to go there.

I'll give it a go...

"Italy. Everyone drives really well and is very polite."