TV's Frink said:

I prefer my fish with chips.

My late father was prone to over doing things when it came to presents based on casual remarks.

My niece when she was very, very little said she would like to have a gold fish.

So he got a giant aquarium. I had friends who kept tropical fish (not in their underpants I hasten to mention) so I knew you had to clean the gravel, you had to use filtered water and let the tank oxygenate and warm for a while before introducing the fish.

He was way to keen and did none of these things.

A few days in tepid tap water and they were all dead.

So then we were left with a giant tank of fish soup, then air, then keys and junk mail and finally after a few years, outside weeds.

The bike story and the model railway story at least didn't involve loss of life.