Cops and Meerkats

This is an extremely popular and successful series of ads for a car insurance website. They are incredibly odd and random and yet it's easy to see their appeal!

In other news, I have had 2 experiences recently that demonstrate why the London Met police are so slated over here. I'd heard that they were racist, but I didn't experience that (Australians are not usually their specific target) I have instead witnessed their incompetence!

I rang 999 the other night. I've never called an emergency number before, but there was a guy who had been buzzing my neighbour's doorbell for about 10 minutes, then someone let him in and then he went up and knocked on the door inside the building for about 15 mins! It was, of course, the one neighbour for whom I don't have a phone number so when the knocking started to sound aggressive, I called the cops. About 10 mins later, the neighbours came home and obviously let the man in, so it must have been OK, but 5 mins after that I got a call from the police saying they hadn't forgotten about me and would try to come by soon! What if I was being murdered?? I told them they didn't have to come (I was actually relieved they didn't turn up, in case the neighbours hated me) but it did seem a bit hopeless.

The next day I needed to get a certified copy of my passport to apply for Ben's visa. I went to the local police station and waited for quite a while (people kept pushing it - grrr). When I eventually spoke to the policeman at reception and asked him if he could certify a copy he said "I don't know. What do I have to do?"

"I think you just have to sign and stamp that you've seen the original."

"Well I mean I can stamp it for you, but I don't know if it would be official or nuthin."

WHAT?? Of course I need it to be official! Then he said something strange about having done something similar for South Africans before, but not Australians. What difference would it make? Maybe he was being racist towards Australians.

I went to the post office. They knew what to do and even gave me some advice when the copies I made were a bit dark.

The funniest bit is, after going to the police station I got a text message from the Met Police asking me to go to their website and fill in a survey about their performance when I'd called 999! Hilarious.

But man, I hope I never have to rely on them to rescue me.