» Sexism

My son
My 14 yr old son opened the door for a woman at the local shop a few days ago, he always does - very considerate lad. When she glared at him whilst barging past him without a word of thanks, almost knocking him into the newspaper display, I very loudly thanked him on behalf of the "miserable old bitch who has the manners of a pig and the backside to match"
(Sun 27th Dec 2009, 15:03, More)

» Heroes and villains of 2011

Me!
Since no one else will nominate me - I nominate me for my own hero, and my own worst enemy.

Ex walked out on me (moved in with the village bike, who lived across the road from us) when I was 4 months pregnant with our second child (who is disabled) - that child is now 16, my oldest is 18. For the last 16 years I have raised my children on my own - they are good natured, well balanced, well mannered, socially adept and thoroughly lovely kids. Since their father had no input in their upbringing whatsoever (his choice), since I have no contact with my own family (bunch of bastards - my dad was the only decent one but he died a long time ago), and since I have home educated them for the last six years, I take sole credit for this.

Throughout the last 16 years I have spent minimal time on benefits (it's soul destroying being on the dole) - I worked full time for the first 10 years and then went part-time to be able to home educate effectively.

We've moved house a few times in the last 16 years too, again all organised and carried out alone - fuck paying removal company fees, I hired, drove, packed and unpacked the van on my own.

So fuck the single parent haters - not all of us are lazy chavscum dole scroungers.

So yeah, blowing my own fucking trumpet here - I'm pretty damned good, the results speak for themselves.


And my own worst enemy? I'm 48 years old, I have diabetes, arthritis in my hands, an underactive thyroid, and asthma. I neglect myself terribly, constantly forget to take my pills, smoke like a train, don't eat properly, am overweight and barely get any sleep.

The kids are older now though, and I've decided for my New Year's resolution that I'm going to spend more time and effort on myself. I think I deserve it.
(Fri 30th Dec 2011, 23:00, More)

» Bullies

I rather lost faith in the whole school thing...
I had to literally drag my very distressed children to school for several years, to leave them sobbing their hearts out with a teacher hanging on to them so they didn't run back to me as I left. I'd be telephoned several times a week by the school because they were "distressed" after breaktimes and lunchtimes. I attended meeting after meeting with the head and deputy head about the bullying. The advice given by the staff was the usual "ignore it", "go home for lunch", "walk away", "tell a teacher" type crap. They tried all of this - to no avail. They tried standing up to the bullies - only to get into trouble with the themselves. I was told by my daughter's head of year that nothing would be done about one of the girls bullying my daughter because "her parents would get upset" and would apparently cause trouble for the school - the HoY sympathised, she said, but my daughter would have to try and stay out of the other girl's way. Etc etc, ad nauseum.

After many, many incidents - both physical and verbal, the final straw for me came following yet another a rather nasty assault on my daughter by two girls where, this time, she was thrown on the floor and kicked in the head several times - surrounded by the usual jeering mob. My daughter finally managed to get to the receptionist and asked her to call me. The receptionist said she'd call the school nurse instead, who duly came and took my daughter to the medical room. After being told what had happened the nurse gave her a glass of water and then sent her off to her class. The teacher noticed she was white as a sheet and shaking so sent her back to the nurse, the nurse immediately sent her back to class. After much to'ing and fro'ing to the nurses room over the course of the day (the incident happened in the morning) the deputy head was finally called in. He questioned my daughter and the two girls concerned, who eventually admitted the whole thing and told them to shake hands and apologise.

My daughter came home from school that night still white as a sheet, still shaking, blurred vision, vomiting etc - I finally managed to piece together most of the story from her highly incoherent explanations while we were in casualty. She was concussed but fortunately no permanent or longlasting damage.

Obviously I had several questions for the school staff - why hadnt they called me when it happened, why hadnt they taken her to hospital immediately (which I would think would be commonsense after someone was kicked repeatedly in the head), why did the nurse continually send her back to class when she was quite clearly not fit to be in school after the assault, etc

No satisfactory answers were forthcoming, no apology for the nurse's total incompetence - instead I was apparently supposed to be satisfied with the punishment which the school had decided upon for the two girls concerned - they were "isolated" (not allowed to go outside at breaktime or lunchtime) for one whole day! Woo!

After the meeting concluded I marched straight up to the receptionist, requested a pen and paper, and wrote a letter to the school unregistering them - took them home. They've been home educated ever since.

After being out of the school environment for several years, my children have now returned to the well-balanced and happy people they were before the bullying started. They are respectful, kind and enthusiastic about learning, and are now much more social and friendly with other children (albeit older children rather than their peers) than they ever were whilst at school - something which, had I left them in that abusive and neglectful environment, I'm sure would have been knocked out of them.

Yes, education is necessary - school isn't.
(Sat 16th May 2009, 4:17, More)

» Dodgy work ethics


I used to work as a secretary for the Criminal Department in a firm of Solicitors. The boss would generally dictate random gibberish which I would then type into something suitable. My favourite example is the day he asked me to "write to the CPS and ask the rotten bastards to send us our disclosure".

I duly typed something appropriate:

Dear Sirs

Where's our disclosure, you rotten bastards.

Yours faithfully

Upon reading his mail at the end of the day, he chuckled, signed it and we sent it on.

Apparently he had some rather vexed junior from the CPS on the phone the following morning.
(Mon 11th Jul 2011, 2:40, More)

» Complaining

Catalogues
I bought a couple of bikes for my children from a catalogue several years ago. Very cheap and shoddily made, but at the time I was very skint.

The bikes arrived a week or so later - one was the wrong size and far too small for my son, my daughter's bike had broken brake levers. I rang the catalogue and advised them of this and they promised to send a van to collect the bikes and send me replacements.

The replacements duly arrived - one of had a torn saddle, the other had broken parts.

The van to collect the first bikes arrived a day or so later. The driver advised that since the bikes werent boxed he'd have to come back with a bigger, transit sized, van.

I rang the catalogue again and told them of this, and of the broken bike (pedals this time). They promised to send out more bikes and send a bigger van to collect the broken/small ones. I told them not to bother sending any more bikes, and to come and collect all four of their cheap crap machines. This they promised to do.

The following week a van arrived. Same driver, same van. He looked at the bikes and told me that as they werent boxed he wouldnt be able to take them, and would have to return with a bigger van.

Again I rang the catalogue and told them to send a bigger van. This they promised to do.

The following week a van arrived. Same driver, same van. He looked at the bikes and told me.. etc.

Again I rang the catalogue and told them.. etc

I didnt hear from them again until a month or so later when they started writing nasty letters asking for payment for four bikes. I rang and told them that I was still waiting for the bikes to be collected. They promised to send out a van to collect.

Another couple of months go by. They start threatening further action if I don't pay up. I ignore it, Ive asked enough times for a van and Im not going to waste money on phonecalls to them any longer.

More letters, more threats. Eventually I write a letter to them.

Dear Sirs

I have now been storing four bicycles for you for several months following your failure to collect your property, despite many assurances from you that you would send a van to collect them.

I am not prepared to continue storing these items for you indefinitely, and thus hereby give notice that as from next Monday storage of these items will start to incur charges at the rate of £10 per bicycle per week. This charge will continue until all of the bicycles are collected by you (in a suitably sized van).

Yours etc

I receive a letter where they apologise for not collecting the bikes and assuring me that they would send someone out to collect them that week.

A few days later they sent a van. Same van, same driver. He tells me he can't take the bikes as they arent boxed, and he'll need a bigger van.

I thought I'd heard the last of them, but no. Several months later I receive a very nasty letter from the catalogue asking for payment, or else..

I reply with an invoice for several hundred pounds - more than the actual cost of the bikes - sending them a copy of my previous letter.

I never heard from them again.

Got £100 for all four bikes when I sold them.
(Sun 5th Sep 2010, 7:48, More)