| — Hello, I wish to register a complaint… Hello? |
| Miss?
|
| — What do you mean, miss?
|
| — Oh, I’m sorry, I have a cold. |
| I wish to make a complaint
|
| — Sorry, we’re closing for lunch
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| — Never mind that, my lad. |
| I wish to complain about a parrot what I purchased
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| not half an hour ago from this very boutique
|
| — Oh yes, the Norwegian Blue. |
| What’s wrong with it?
|
| — I'll tell you what’s wrong with it. |
| It’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it
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| — No no, it’s resting… look!
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| — Look my lad, I know a dead parrot when I see one and I’m looking at one right
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| now
|
| — No, no sir, it’s not dead. |
| It’s resting
|
| — Resting!?!
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| — Yeah, remarkable bird the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plumage, innit?
|
| — The plumage don’t enter into it — it’s stone dead
|
| — No, no — it’s just resting
|
| — Alright then, if it’s resting I’ll wake it up: «Hello Polly! |
| I’ve got a nice
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| cuttlefish for you when you wake up, Polly Parrot!»
|
| — There! |
| It moved!
|
| — No he didn’t. |
| That was you pushing the cage
|
| — I did not
|
| — Yes you did. |
| Hello Polly, Polly! |
| Polly Parrot, wake up. |
| Polly!
|
| Now that’s what I call a dead parrot
|
| — No, no it’s stunned
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| — Look my lad, I’ve had just about enough of this. |
| That parrot is definitely
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| deceased. |
| And when I bought it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its
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| lack of movement was due to it being tired shagged out after a long squawk
|
| — It's probably pining for the fjords
|
| — Pining for the fjords, what kind of talk is that? |
| Look, why did it fall flat
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| on its back the moment I got it home?
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| — The Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on its back. |
| Beautiful bird, lovely plumage
|
| — Look, I took the liberty of examining the parrot, and I discovered that the
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| only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that
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| it had been nailed there
|
| — Well of course it was nailed there. |
| Otherwise it would muscle up to those
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| bars and voom
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| — Look matey, this parrot wouldn’t go voom if I put four thousand volts through
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| it. |
| It’s bleeding demised
|
| — It's not. |
| It’s pining
|
| — It's not pining, it’s passed on. |
| This parrot is no more. |
| It has ceased to be.
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| It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. |
| This is a late parrot. |
| It’s a stiff.
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| Bereft of life, it rests in peace. |
| If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch,
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| it would be pushing up the daisies. |
| It’s run down the curtain and joined the
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| choir invisible. |
| This is an ex-parrot
|
| — Well, I’d better replace it then
|
| — If you want to get anything done in this country you’ve got to complain till
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| you’re blue in the mouth
|
| — Sorry guv, we’re right out a parrots
|
| — I see. |
| I see. |
| I get the picture
|
| — I've got a slug
|
| — Does it talk?
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| — Not really, no
|
| — Well, it’s scarcely a replacement, then is it?
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| — Listen, I’ll tell you what, tell you what, if you go to my brother’s pet shop
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| in Bolton he’ll replace your parrot for you
|
| — Bolton eh?
|
| — Yeah
|
| — Alright
|
| — Er, excuse me. |
| This is Bolton, is it?
|
| — No, no it’s, er, Ipswich
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| — That's Inter-City Rail for you (leaves)
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| — I wish to make a complaint
|
| — I don’t have to do this, you know
|
| — I beg your pardon?
|
| — I'm a qualified brain surgeon. |
| I only do this because I like being my own boss
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| — Er, excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn’t it?
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| — Oh yeah, it’s not easy to pad these out in thirty minutes
|
| — Well I wish to make a complaint. |
| I got on to the Bolton train and found
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| myself deposited here in Ipswich
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| — No, this is Bolton
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| — If this is Bolton, I shall return to the pet shop
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| — I understand this IS Bolton
|
| — Yes
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| — Well, you told me it was Ipswich
|
| — It was a pun
|
| — A pun?
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| — No, no, not a pun, no. |
| What’s the other thing which reads the same backwards
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| as forwards?
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| — A palindrome?
|
| — Yes, yes
|
| — It's not a palindrome. |
| The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. |
| It don’t work
|
| — Look, what do you want?
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| — No, I’m sorry, I’m not prepared to pursue my line of enquiry any further as I
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| think this is getting too silly |