Room 101: Tom Barrett – Rotherham fly-half

1. Fast Food
Playing at Rotherham and living in Bingley (north of Bradford) means a lot of my day is spent driving. Sometimes after I finish training all I want is something to eat, which presents something of a problem when you’re on the road. Of course one can bring food in preparation, but being honest I’m not that organised and bringing in Tupperware or a pack-up would leave me open to banter. You want something that is convenient and you can pick up on the go but is also healthy. Unfortunately that’s nigh on impossible in this country. Healthy food simply does not exist in drive-throughs, meaning KFC and MacDonald’s are the only options. I’d rather not eat the stuff but I have little choice. If you put fast food in Room 101 then maybe it would force a rethink.
TRP verdict:  Lettuce us think about that for a moment…You’re in.
2. U after a Q
This may seem exceptionally trivial and probably rightly so. But why must we always use the letter U after writing a Q? Unlike most rules in the English language this is applied rigidly across the board. The reason why this irritates me is because it just seems like a redundant rule. Would you not get the same effect if we just used a Q on its own knowing that it is pronounced as if it was followed by a U, i.e. qestion? It seems like a very inefficient use of the English language to me.
TRP verdict:  Time for a grammar U-turn? I don’t think so, you’ve failed on this occasion.
3. Model pets
I’m not sure why it bothers me so much but why on earth do some people insist on dressing their animals up as humans? To me it’s just bizarre that anyone would want to do that. Admittedly, I’m not a massive pet person – my history with animals is a gold fish called Hemingway and a Guinea pig when I was younger. I know these are two animals/creatures that one does not normally grow a huge emotional attachment to like a dog, for example. Even so, I still can’t understand why dogs get fitted out with tartan coats and other fashion accessories, it’s not like they care about how they look.
TRP verdict:  Maybe that’s why they call it a ‘catwalk’? You’re in.