Sir – Your readers are all familiar with ‘nanny transport’. As the London coach dawdles over Magdalen Bridge and stops at the traffic lights, we are warned menacingly of the dangers of coming down the stairs before it gets to a bus stop.
The railway station is littered with signs telling us to take extra care in adverse conditions. At Stansted airport after midnight in winter, National will happily sell cups of coffee with lids to its cold passengers in the waiting room, then have an official positioned to take them away again for health and safety reasons as the passengers get on to the Oxford coach. I thought I had seen it all. Recently I travelled to Moreton-in-Marsh by train and I was sold a cup of coffee from the trolley.
This is a peculiarly smooth-running train and I had a table to myself. The salesman put a lid on the coffee and opened up with his fingers a little spout for me to drink through, like a teacher-beaker for toddlers.
I promptly took the lid off, because it was black coffee and needed to cool down before I drank it. He warned me that it was dangerous to drink coffee like that and to my utmost amazement, still using his own skilful fingers, he put the lid back on again.
I have a rebellious streak and I took it off so as to drink the coffee in the normal way once it had cooled down.
Roger Moreton, Oxford