ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Dinner was briefly interrupted in a quiet Betoota Grove household last night as a local dad attempted to assert authority using a cultural reference that missed its mark by about 45 years.
Ian Caruthers, a 61-year-old semi-retired barrister and father of two separate families, was reportedly pushed to the brink after his eight-year-old son Henry refused to eat his steak dinner. According to witnesses, the older father paused, looked at his second wife Britney, then stood and delivered the line word for word, in a dreadful Scottish accent.
“If you don’t eat yer meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?”
Neighbours confirmed hearing what they assumed was a rehearsal for a community theatre production.
Young Henry, who was born in the same year TikTok launched, had no idea what his dad was on about. Sources say he stared blankly at his father before asking what pudding was.
Britney says this kind of thing happens regularly.
“He quoted Fawlty Towers last week when Henry dropped his iPad. The poor kid thought he was being punished in another language.”
Caruthers told The Advocate he had no regrets. He maintains the quote is timeless and says he plans to introduce his son to “the concept of concept albums” when the time is right.
At the time of reporting, Henry still hadn’t eaten his sirloin but had successfully consumed a handful of peas.
More to come.
