Ordinary Gweilo

An intriguing quote from a union official, as reported in The Guardian:

John Nolan, national leader of Amicus, said the use of the vegetables was a totally unacceptable way of getting staff to perform. "It is demeaning to staff and it is demoralising to staff and it does not send a good message to customers when [they] go in and see this sort of method being employed by such a well-known bank," he said.

Sadly, the story turns out a whole lot duller than that quote might suggest.

Two tellers at branches of the bank in Glasgow and Paisley had the vegetables placed on their desks within full public view. In the first case, an 18-year-old male teller was said to be deeply upset by the cabbage put on his desk. In the second case, which only emerged yesterday, a 24-year-old had a cauliflower placed on her desk. She was apparently told she could only pass it on when someone opened an account.

How can you be deeply upset by a cabbage?