A dad-of-two called on McDonald’s to put up clocks after being fined for overstaying in the restaurant’s car park.
Darren Lee, 36, was issued a £100 fine after he exceeded the 90-minute parking restrictions by 13 minutes outside McDonald’s in Lenton, Nottingham, England, mirror.co.uk reported.
Lee was at the chain with his two young sons, aged eight and five, in May, where he said they enjoyed a couple of Happy Meals, a Big Mac and a few McFlurrys.
He tried to appeal the parking charge notice (PCN) but it was rejected, prompting him now to call on McDonald’s staff to make customers aware of the restrictions.
He told Nottinghamshire Live, “Clocks in the restaurant, that would help, and signs in the restaurant or even members of staff giving you a nice, friendly reminder just so you know you’re on a time limit in the car park in case you haven’t seen the signs.
“Just say ‘have you seen the signs in the car park?’
“If they say ‘no’, say ‘right, if you’re parked here you have a 90-minute time limit’.
“It would make a lot of difference.
“If I’d have walked into that restaurant and they’d have said that I’d have been more vigilant about the time and been clock-watching more.”
Lee, who also has autism, explained he didn’t get to spend much time with his children and said they arrived at 5.46 p.m., then the family left at 7.29 p.m.
A McDonald’s spokeswoman said, “Car parking restrictions are in place to ensure that there are always spaces available for our customers.
“All of our restaurant car parks contain ample signage regarding restrictions, and these are clearly displayed both as you drive into the car park and on various lampposts within it.
“We recommend the customer contacts the relevant parking operator should they require any further assistance.”
McDonald’s confirmed staff do their best to remind those who eat at the restaurant about parking restrictions.
But the firm said the responsibility ultimately lies with the customer.
The PCN is designed to be reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days.
After his appeal to UK Parking Control Ltd. was rejected, Lee has since contacted an independent adjudicator called POPLA on the back of the decision.
POPLA took into account that it was the first time Lee had received a PCN at McDonald’s.
POPLA also considered that Lee was a “separated father who maximizes the time that he has with his two sons”.
However, after reviewing the case, a POPLA spokesman said, “I am satisfied that the PCN was issued correctly and the charge is payable.
“Accordingly, this appeal is refused.”

 

A detailed routine for caring for babies in the 1950s has gone viral for advising parents to follow advice such as putting the baby ‘out of doors to sleep’.
The ‘baby’s day’ routine, which was taken from an old parenting book, was shared on the Facebook page Mum’s Grapevine, where it has since been liked more than 1,000 times, independent.co.uk reported.
The caption reads, “Apparently this is how it was done 70 years ago. Two baths a day, orange juice, outside for naps.”
In addition to waking at 6 a.m. to feed, change, and ‘hold out’ the baby, parents were then informed that they should leave the baby back in its cot to sleep again.
At 9 a.m., the baby should be allowed a ‘drink of water’, before being allowed to ‘kick on bed without clothes’ followed by a ‘daily sunbath’, according to the itinerary.
Following a bath at 9:30 a.m., the baby should be fed, held out again, and then put ‘out of doors to sleep’.
According to the routine, at 2 p.m., the mother should participate in an ‘outing and ‘mothering’ with the baby.
After putting the child in its cot to sleep with “lights out, windows open, door shut and no dummy” at 6 p.m. following a second bath and some orange juice, the routine advises feeding the child once more at 10 or 11 p.m. — at which point the child will sleep until 6 a.m.
On Facebook, the questionable schedule has amused parents, who have sarcastically wondered whether they have been ‘doing it all wrong’.
“Clearly we are doing this wrong. Here’s the answer to all of our problems,” one parent wrote.
Another said, “So this is where I’ve gone wrong.”
Others questioned what it means to ‘hold out’ the baby, which was expected four times a day.
“What does ‘hold out’ mean? Just hold them out the window?” one mum asked, while another said, “Hold out??? At arm’s length, on a selfie stick??”
According to other commenters, to ‘hold out’ the baby meant putting the child over a potty in an effort to have the child use the toilet without the need for diapers.
However, someone else summed up the parenting guide by commenting, “Whoever wrote this ‘program’ hasn’t had any babies.”

 

A South African company is promoting sustainable protein alternatives with a pop-up restaurant serving only foods derived from insects.
The Insect Experience, a pop-up located at the GoodFood hall in Cape Town, features only menu items that use various edible insects as sources of protein, UPI reported.
The pop-up is operated by Gourmet Grubb, a company founded by food scientist Leah Bessa and her partners. The company offers EntoMilk, a milk alternative made from the black soldier fly, as well as dairy-free ice cream made from the milk.
“We sort of wanted to try and create a viable protein alternative that is sustainable and ethical and could really create quite a positive change going into the future,” Bessa told CNN.
The Insect Experience is billed as South Africa’s first restaurant to use insects as the exclusive source of protein.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization recognizes more than 1,900 insect species as edible for humans.
The Insect Experience is aiming to remain open through the middle of 2020.
 

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.