The long and the short of it

I see that Doctorvee spotted this one as well:

Binmen in Dunfermline have threatened a work to rule after being banned from wearing shorts in hot weather.

Fife Council has a bureaucratic explanation of course:

"Binmen can suffer from cuts and grazes, insect bites, dog bites and this is just an added safety measure for the men.

"They could also suffer sun damage which could lead to serious problems such as skin cancer."

The Doc thinks that:

binmen are smart enough to know when they can and can’t safely wear shorts themselves.

Quite right. Let's hope Edinburgh Council doesn't antagonise its binmen in the same way - this was the view from my window the last time there was a dispute here:

Yesterday I went to the Open at St Andrews (also in Fife). I noticed that many of the support staff on and off the fairways were wearing shorts.

Does this mean that:

(A) Fife Council is a kindly and benevolent organisation without which residents of the Kingdom would be completely unable to go about their day to day affairs, and also that the Royal and Ancient is an exploitative cabal of Victorian mill owners who are probably plotting to send greenkeepers' children up chimneys.

Or

(B) That Fife Council are a bunch of interfering busybodies, unable to earn an honest living in the free market, and that the R & A is a civilised part of Scotland's national life that brings millions of pounds into the country every year and provides gainful employment to thousands at no cost to the taxpayer?