Maybe it's the company I grew up with, but I am constantly amazed by how incredibly stupid people can be. Two of the more popular stories on Reuters today reflect this: Woolworths pulls "Lolita" bed for young girls and The Dumbest Ever Quiz Answers.

In the first story, Woolworths (or Woolies as it's known in the UK) withdrew the sale of beds designed for six-year-old girls. The name of the bed? Lolita. The sales staff were apparently unaware of the sexual connotations of the name as they had not heard of the novel, nor of the two films based on the novel. Granted, I haven't read the novel or watched any of the two films either, but I sure as hell am aware of what Lolita means.

In the other article, contestants on TV quiz shows gave priceless responses to questions like "what is Gandhi's first name?" and "Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci," with "Goosey Goosey" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" respectively.

In retrospect, I really ought not to be so surprised. After all, I have had issues with every single UK service provider I have used since touching down in this country. I might have pegged it down to problems inherent with outsourcing except that some of the people I have spoken to have had clearly unmistakably (and almost indecipherable) British accents.