I am pursued by giant cartoon characters on garish purple boxes day and night. HELP!

Dear Aunty B,

I get up in the morning to see giant breakfast cereal boxes left on the table from my adult teenager having a midnight snack.

I get home at night to see them left on the table after breakfast. I go to work to see people sitting at their desks with packets of cereal in front of them munching away through the day.

Why is this Aunty B? Since when did adults think it’s okay to sit in front of a giant cardboard box of cartoon characters day and night and eat it with their fingers or in dirty bowls and milk encrusted spoons?

And why am I pursued through my waking hours by enormous garish cereal boxes full of cardboard and sugar? Am I in a nightmare?

Yours,

An office somewhere

Dear An office somewhere,

Oh, I hear you. If aliens ever bothered to visit, they would think these cardboard devices are life support machines for young males.

Let me warn you. The cure for this is expensive, energy sapping and can take years off your life.

The big expense? At work, we put in a big eating room with large cupboards for cereal boxes. It is large, friendly and sunny. If it is breakfast time we call it the breakfast room. If it is lunch, we call it the lunch room. Just to be really obvious. When a new bod arrives and the ubiquitous cereal pack appears, we gently guide them to the What-Ever-Time-Of-Day-It-Is-Room, show them where they can put their box, where to put their bowl and spoon, where to sit, how to stack the dishwasher and, fingers crossed, we leave them to it.

At home? It’s easier and harder. You are allowed to yell, threaten and deny basic rights like paying them money – all things you can’t do at work. However, it takes years of training as they are your children and never listen to a thing you say.

Be smart,

Your Aunty B

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