Great Western Coffee Shop

Thanks to Railway Eye (http://railwayeye.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/virgin-offers-animal-petting-as-court.html) and Virgin Trains (http://mediaroom.virgintrains.co.uk/2012/10/animals-bring-stress-relief-at-stafford.html) for this one:


Many of us have animals at home as a part of our family.  What type of animal do you have / would you like to have to pet when you get home after a rail journey?

Most common UK pets? see here (http://www.top-ten-10.com/recreation/pets/uk-pets.htm)

I find my tank of tropical fish very theraputic, but not sure they'd take too kindly to being taken out and stroked!

I love petting Goats.

They are playful, energetic & always bring out a smile in me.

Interesting to note there's no option to vote for "my wife" or "my husband" (or "my modern gender-neutral equivalent to such outmoded terms as wife or husband")

 ;D

Other than my flatmate, who could be described as a sloth, the only animal I have in the house are silverfish and spiders and they never want to play.  :(

I considered adding an option for "my partner" or "human" but decided that could lead us down all sorts of nuances which might be out of character for a board that visible to readers of any age and any sensitivity.  There's nothing to stop you voting "something else", Phil, if that's an option you would have selected.

And yet petting goats is considered perfectly normal for a board that is visible to readers of any age and any sensibility?!

Ha ha! I love this place sometimes, I really do...

There are, of course, around 88,000 goats in this country (http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/vetsurveillance/species/goats.htm), and all of them (bar perhaps a few in zoos) will be domesticated or semidomesticated, and that means they'll be used to some form of human contact. But I personally didn't choose to add "goats" to my list of options, nor fish, slothes, partners, etc.; that's up to our members to do if they wish, as in my role as an administrator I need to be play things with what is - at times - a frustratingly straight bat lest I bring the office of administrator into disrepute.

I blame Virgin, with their idea of petting animals at Stafford station in the first place.  What we've discovered already from our poll is that they'll need to provide a very wide range of beasts indeed if they're to meet the stroking preferences of even a significant minority of their customers, and they'll need quite a few "none"s as well as the more common pets.

Well I'm glad your mention of petting virgins isn't seen as bringing the office into disrepute :)

sadly no option for "the wife". so i will opt for dog

I used to have a mouse I called Elvis but he died,   ......caught in a trap   ;)

Looks like our Billy should only be making friends with three out of 16 of you  :-\

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/dogart1.jpg)

I have already made friends with Billy - he is a quite remarkable dog, and his story can be found at http://www.wellho.net/horse/  ;)

Gypsy took a rather interesting interest in me... And pulled me across grahame's conference room... :-\

I'm also friends with Billy ;D but I haven't met grahame's billy. My Billy is 10 and here he is :)

Also relevant is the person stood next to him... That is the ladyfriend trout! ;)

(http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72062_3938016684793_1156627818_n.jpg)