Wizofoz, perhaps rubbish was too strong a word - sorry, as I'm sure most will agree (maybe not) there are always grey areas in the mel, and so much depends on how the person reads it and interprets it.
So much difference can be made by the odd word and if you miss that word in your haste to get the a/c out on time (commercial pressure) it can be the difference between a goer or a stopper.
H721's examples, the door, perfectly acceptable under the mel for the 744 - quote - Door maybe inop for normal passenger loading and disembarkation provided the door is fully serviceable for emergency evacuation. There are certain maintenance checks that need to be c/o to ensure this, so perfectly acceptable.
Water (on a freighter, he's talking I think about 747) toilet water is seperate to drinking water, as long as sufficient bottled water is loaded, then not a problem.
At the end of the day I and probably most others would not release an a/c outside (or even sometimes within) the mel if it affected the airworthiness of the said a/c, I've even had the situation where (a 3rd party operator) wanted to take the a/c and we weren't prepared to release it until fixed, you have to be strong in your convictions and justified not to bow to the unnecessary and illegal pressure placed on you. (and yes we still handle them).
