My rant today is about the stigmas attached to parenthood, having babies close together in age and having large families. Today is just one in a very long line of days that I have been told how much and how many people feel sorry for me having two children so close together in age. "Poor you, how awful to have them so close together", the lady in the shop said to me this morning "It must be so hard". Well yes it is hard but it's not awful and the biggest problem I have is that I wanted them close together in age. We purposefully tried to have them close together, in fact it took me eight months to get pregnant with Tabitha otherwise they would be even closer! So when people keep stopping me to exclaim at how I must have my hands full and isn't it awful for me then I feel like a fraud.
I mean it's all very well these people trying to be nice and everything but it makes me either feel awful that they think my children were accidents (both were planned so that's not the case) or angry that they think I am not sensible enough to have planned my family. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with not planning your family and lots of people do have happy accidents but that seems to be the norm these days and people think I'm the strange one when I say I planned to have my children and wanted them so close together. I should have been born in the 1940's - men would have held doors open, I could have happily stayed home and planned my children!!
So why do people feel bad for me? Just because it's hard work? Have they been through it themselves and have awful memories? Do I look haggard and at the point of collapse - well yes probably!! But that's not all to do with the kids!! If it was sixty years ago then people would think I had quite a small family, I mean weren't there all these massive families all living in 2 bedroom houses? Why am I so crazy to only have a sixteen month age gap between my children. There is fifteen months between my sister and me and we always loved growing up doing the same things. Is it so wrong that I want the same for my children?
There are lots of arguments for having your children close in age. Many of them are explained best in the following article;
Children with lots of siblings do better in exams, are healthier and less likely to be obese or depressed than an only child, according to Sky News presenter Colin Brazier.
Mr Brazier, who has six children under the age of 14 with his wife Jo, works with social policy think tank Civitas alongside his journalism career.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, he said large families had many health and social benefits and were not as expensive as people are led to believe.
He said: 'There are many contraceptive forces behind the 10 per cent rise, in the space of a generation, in the number of mainly middle class British parents having only one child.The housing market, expensive child care, lost career momentum.
'Our only sibling subsidy - child benefit - has been capped for all and axed for many. But although want of cash is a real disincentive, for the nearly two-thirds of first-time parents who say they cannot afford family expansion, want of accurate information may also be a factor.'
Mr Brazier, 44, recalled a story he read during a news bulletin eight years ago, he said, where the cost of raising a child was said to have reached £250,000.
He decided to team up with Swedish researcher Therese Wallin to see if it really was expensive to have more than one child.
In his article, Mr Brazier said the average cost of having a child fell with every extra birth, with hand-me-down clothes and toys, heating and bath water being shared, and sibling discounts for theme park tickets and schooling helping to keep costs of parenting down.
He claimed that having brothers or sisters for playtime 'helps children burn off fat', citing an American study which said a child was 14 per cent less obese with every extra addition to the family.
Mr Brazier, a former war correspondent and now Sky News anchor, also works for a social policy think tank
Mr Brazier said: 'We can scoff at such a definitive conclusion, until we realise that no one in medical academia has suggested that having a sibling ever made anyone fatter.'
The former war correspondent said recent studies showed growing up with a sibling was a shield against some food allergies and serious illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and some cancers, but did not explain why there was not more protection for children who spend a lot of time with others in day care or school.
In a previous piece for the Daily Mail, Mr Brazier said: 'One study, of half a million Army conscripts, revealed that one in ten only-children developed asthma. In the largest families the figure was closer to one in 200.'
He argued that children in larger families learned to walk and talk earlier than only children because they are encouraged by their siblings, and show greater emotional intelligence.
He also said they are better at waiting their turn.
'Some of the most recent evidence even suggests that a child with a brother and/or sister will have more evolved language skills and do better at exams,' he wrote.
Mr Brazier suggested having more children could be the 'antidote to pushy parenting'.
'Have too many children and, as a parent, you will not be able to leverage your resources on to a solitary stellar-achieving child,' he said.
Mr Brazier said his eldest daughter, 14-year-old Edith, had announced she would not be following in her parents' footsteps in having a large brood of her own.
But in a previous article for the Daily Mail, Mr Brazier said he and his wife followed the example of Lady Longford, a historian who had eight children and said she had so many because she was curious to see how they all turned out to be so different from each other despite sharing the same genes.
So really with families starting to grow and people advocating larger families why are people so bothered about me and my two? Is there a stigma attached to having larger families...I think there is and people recoil in horror when I say we will definitely try for at least one more baby in the future. I know it can go too far (watch 16 kids and counting.....nuff said) and I am absolutely certain I will not be ending up with a football team but I like the feeling of a large family. I grew up with three siblings and it was (I'm sure) hard work for my parents but such a lovely childhood to always have someone to play with and talk to. We did not always have everything we wanted (forget state of the art toys and designer trainers) but we were always fed and dressed and with two sisters so close in age we were able to swap toys and clothes (my brother got around this by selling me some of my sister's stuff when she wasn't looking!). So really where was the hardship? Not to mention the fact that now my parents have four children to look after them in their dotage (!!) and I have a good strong family network for my children to grow up in.
Not everyone would agree though;
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie admit six children are a handful, but there are plenty of advantages to multiple siblings - from built-in playmates to lessons in sharing.
Photograph by: Toru Yamanaka , AFP/Getty Images
Even the tabloids are filled with stories about Brangelina’s disobedient brood and their chaotic life behind closed chateau doors.
There seems to be a stigma against big families; people think the kids are deprived, or that their life is akin to a circus — mayhem, no bedtime or boundaries, lots of yelling. Recently, Lauren Sandler, author of One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One, called out parents of more than one as dazed and impatient, shells of their former selves who, furthermore, don’t get to travel or attend late night rock shows. She even famously referred to women who have three or more children as “champion breeders.”
Often family size is influenced by the number of siblings the parents had growing up.
It’s one thing to understand why parents would choose to have lots of children, but quite another to be able to relate to what’s it’s like day-to-day in a full house. Reality TV does not paint a promising picture — no one wants to have a grandchild older than her youngest kid, a la Duggars. Or a litter of children, like the former reality TV couple (and now-split-up) Jon and Kate.
Indeed, the idea of built-in playmates as kids, who grow into friends for life as adults, is often touted as one of the benefits of having a big family.
“It’s more people to play with, but also more people to fight with,” says Christie Krawchuck, a stay-at-home mom with four kids under the age of 10. For the most part though, having more children teaches them camaraderie, and responsibility, from an earlier age, she says. Her oldest daughter reads to the youngest at bedtime, for example, and loves having that job. And because Krawchuck only has two hands, she can’t do for her kids what they can do for themselves. Because of this her youngest started dressing herself at age two.
So who is right then, is it good or bad for children to come from larger families? Is it too chaotic? Does it actually help them to grow and learn? Does it depend on how many siblings a child has and if so how many is the right number?
One thing is for sure I made my choice to have two children close together in age and I'm the one who deals with the sleepless nights, tantrums and fights. I don't really want pity as it was my choice....I love my children and am happy to go through the daily struggles if it means they have a good upbringing with plenty of fun, love and laughter and of course someone to share it with. So people who keep commenting about how awful it is....it's not, they are my children, of course it's hard work but that's the point, isn't it? As Theodore Roosevelt said .......
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
FR.
Day Twenty-two; (this one's for you Kate!)
So after last night's benefit programme on BBC1 (I missed it but have been brought up to speed by several friends) which has caused a lot of controversy I feel I must say something about people who scrounge money off the state and live a better life style than those of us who pay tax and work! It also comes in the same week as the news that Josie Cunningham (who had a boob job on the NHS) now thinks her boobs are too big and wants a boob reduction on the NHS. So we can spend our money on her again!!
The story so far.......
NHS boob job girl Josie Cunningham regrets £4,800 implants and wants taxpayer to pay for smaller implants
The wannabe glamour model, 23, sparked outrage when she had a 36DD boob job on the NHS in March - but now she says they are too big
Shameless: Josie Cunningham now wants her boobs made smaller on the NHS
closeronline.co.uk
A wannabe glamour model who was given a £4,800 boob job on the NHS now admits she regrets her decision and wants them out – for free.
Josie Cunningham, 23, sparked outrage when she had her 32A bust boosted to a 36DD in March.
But just six months later, the mum-of-two claims the implants are too big and wants them made smaller – at the cost of the taxpayer.
Josie, from Leeds, begged the NHS for the operation because she was being bullied for being flat-chested.
But she now claims her new boobs are making her feel self-conscious and are stopping her finding modelling work.
Josie told Closer magazine: “They're making my working life difficult.
“They're so big I find them embarrassing and I don't feel I can do any modelling because they've attracted so much negative attention."
Shameless Josie now believes the NHS should cover the cost of going under the knife again after making her top-heavy to begin with.
She added: “I'm thinking about having a reduction on the NHS.
"I don't want to spend my life being known as the girl with massive NHS boobs, so having smaller implants is the only option.
“I'm looking in to charities that could help, but I think it's down to the NHS because they made them so big."
Josie boasted about her boob job in March in an attempt to launch a career as a glamour model but soon faced a huge public backlash.
She told Closer: “People followed me in the street shouting 'We want our money back s***, it was so upsetting.”
“It’s ridiculous that the taxpayer paid for this surgery in the first place, especially when the NHS denies others cancer drugs and delays hip operations.
“Ultimately, the health budget should be spent on treating the sick, not wasted funding boob jobs purely for cosmetic reasons.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-boob-job-girl-josie-2039765
So I don't really know where to begin ranting about this I mean WTF!!?? Really is she serious?? So she was desperate for bigger boobs and was being bullied, ok, fair enough I can see why she might have been allowed them in the first place (at a stretch) but surely someone somewhere went through size options with her?? Surely the doctor sat her down and asked how big she wanted to be and she chose the size?? She did not seem to have a problem with them in the picture below......
So, not really having a problem modelling them here is she? Does she seem self-conscious to you? No I thought not. I think its completely reprehensible the way she is allowed her 15 minutes of fame off the back of the NHS making stupid decisions.
Day Twenty-two; (this one's for you Kate!)
So after last night's benefit programme on BBC1 (I missed it but have been brought up to speed by several friends) which has caused a lot of controversy I feel I must say something about people who scrounge money off the state and live a better life style than those of us who pay tax and work! It also comes in the same week as the news that Josie Cunningham (who had a boob job on the NHS) now thinks her boobs are too big and wants a boob reduction on the NHS. So we can spend our money on her again!!
The story so far.......
NHS boob job girl Josie Cunningham regrets £4,800 implants and wants taxpayer to pay for smaller implants
The wannabe glamour model, 23, sparked outrage when she had a 36DD boob job on the NHS in March - but now she says they are too big
Shameless: Josie Cunningham now wants her boobs made smaller on the NHScloseronline.co.uk
A wannabe glamour model who was given a £4,800 boob job on the NHS now admits she regrets her decision and wants them out – for free.
Josie Cunningham, 23, sparked outrage when she had her 32A bust boosted to a 36DD in March.
But just six months later, the mum-of-two claims the implants are too big and wants them made smaller – at the cost of the taxpayer.
Josie, from Leeds, begged the NHS for the operation because she was being bullied for being flat-chested.
But she now claims her new boobs are making her feel self-conscious and are stopping her finding modelling work.
Josie told Closer magazine: “They're making my working life difficult.
“They're so big I find them embarrassing and I don't feel I can do any modelling because they've attracted so much negative attention."
Shameless Josie now believes the NHS should cover the cost of going under the knife again after making her top-heavy to begin with.
She added: “I'm thinking about having a reduction on the NHS.
"I don't want to spend my life being known as the girl with massive NHS boobs, so having smaller implants is the only option.
“I'm looking in to charities that could help, but I think it's down to the NHS because they made them so big."
Josie boasted about her boob job in March in an attempt to launch a career as a glamour model but soon faced a huge public backlash.
She told Closer: “People followed me in the street shouting 'We want our money back s***, it was so upsetting.”
“It’s ridiculous that the taxpayer paid for this surgery in the first place, especially when the NHS denies others cancer drugs and delays hip operations.
“Ultimately, the health budget should be spent on treating the sick, not wasted funding boob jobs purely for cosmetic reasons.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-boob-job-girl-josie-2039765
So I don't really know where to begin ranting about this I mean WTF!!?? Really is she serious?? So she was desperate for bigger boobs and was being bullied, ok, fair enough I can see why she might have been allowed them in the first place (at a stretch) but surely someone somewhere went through size options with her?? Surely the doctor sat her down and asked how big she wanted to be and she chose the size?? She did not seem to have a problem with them in the picture below......
So, not really having a problem modelling them here is she? Does she seem self-conscious to you? No I thought not. I think its completely reprehensible the way she is allowed her 15 minutes of fame off the back of the NHS making stupid decisions.
Despite appearing in numerous publications to show off her new bustier look, the mother-of-two is now claiming that her new curves are preventing her from finding work.
Speaking to Closer magazine Josie, from Leeds, says: ‘They’re so big I find them embarrassing and I don’t feel I can do any modelling because they’ve attracted so much negative attention.. I’m thinking about having a reduction on the NHS.
‘I’m looking into charities that could help, but I think it’s down to the NHS because they made them so big,’ she argues.
Not totally oblivious to the plight of many who wait months on NHS waiting lists due to lack of budgets, Josie says of her use of taxpayer money: ’I feel awful when I hear about people in need who are refused treatment, but I don’t decide who the NHS helps.’
'There’s a queue and we’re all in it together. If it was my child that was ill I’d move heaven and earth, like any parent, but I don’t make the rules.'
The case caused outrage last month after it was revealed the NHS had funded Josie's operation while just a few miles away two-year-old Oliver Dockerty, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been turned down for funding for an operation which could allow him to walk.
At the time his mother Claire said: 'Oliver has splints on his legs, a flexi-stand as he hasn’t got any balance, and uses a walking frame to get around.
'He wants to be jumping in muddy puddles like Peppa Pig. He wants to be kicking a football and he can’t jump on a trampoline. I’d love to see him walking unaided for his first day at primary school.
'I’m a single parent and I don’t have that kind of money. Even if they look again at the decision, there’s going to be a big backlog of children like Oliver waiting to have this done.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2358413/Josie-Cunningham-Model-regrets-5-000-NHS-boob-job-wants-reduced.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
What the hell?? There are sick children waiting for help and she gets to have a boob job??!! It's disgusting! As someone who has payed tax and struggled to make ends meet (even had to live on £10 per week for a few months when I was 19) then I feel so angry that there are people out there who think they can complain about the amount of money they are GIVEN (yes given, not earned like the rest of us) yet they still seem to have enough for sky tv, fags and booze!!!
I have worked since I was fifteen years old and have only stopped since I had Jake (I even paid my own way through uni) so am furious that my taxes go to such stupid and ungrateful people. Do they not realise how selfish they are? There are so many more deserving people in the world that would love to be given food for a week and would never dream of wasting that money on trivial things such as tv. I know which would go in our house if it was a choice between feeding my children or watching tv!! I bet some of you are thinking that I have no idea what it's like to be poor but my husband and I spend only what we earn and live within our means. If we don't have enough money for treats then we don't have them, simple as that. I don't expect others to buy them for me!
It's shocking the mindset of so many British people that they seem to think they are entitled to this stuff....you're not entitled to any of it....you have to earn it and if you can't be bothered to earn it then that's tough don't have it. Now I know there are some people who genuinely can't work and who need help and I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about people who think it's ok to live off the state just because they can. Who believe that the world owes them and are too bone idle to get off their backsides and get a job. I know how difficult it is to get a job, it took me 4 months to get my last teaching job and I had to travel 65 miles each way, every day to it. I did not turn it down though and say it was too far, I sucked it up and got on with it. There are too many people who think that everything has to be easy or they just can't be bothered. With that attitude humanity as a race would have ceased to exist long before now!!
Headline writers in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and the Daily Express all agree: a million Brits are fit to work but choose to live on benefits.
The figure comes from the government's progress report on its social justice strategy. In the foreword, Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for welfare and pensions, makes the argument for change from the old system.
We are making an historic break from a system that, despite many good intentions, failed those most in need – unwittingly fostering dependency rather than encouraging independence; maintaining people in disadvantage rather than transforming lives; spending public money without achieving outcomes or changing lives
One of the key indicators of social justice for IDS is worklessness – and for him it represents a "challenge".
Around 1 million people have been stuck on a working-age benefit for at least three out of the past four years, despite being judged capable of preparing or looking for work.
It is this implication that people are shirking their responsibility to society that is so troubling. Labour's Liam Byrne responded to this fear by saying: "We need to get these people off benefits and into jobs."
In fact, the data, contained in an ad hoc analysis, reveals another story entirely.
Consider the key Table 2 (below).
This shows that there were 2.3 million working age people on benefits over the last four years. Of these, about 1 million spent three to four years on benefits. However, 600,000 of these claimants are people not able to work – by the government's own definition. They are either in the Work Related Activity Group, lone parents with at least one young child or those being assessed in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check/2013/apr/24/benefits
Speaking to Closer magazine Josie, from Leeds, says: ‘They’re so big I find them embarrassing and I don’t feel I can do any modelling because they’ve attracted so much negative attention.. I’m thinking about having a reduction on the NHS.
‘I’m looking into charities that could help, but I think it’s down to the NHS because they made them so big,’ she argues.
Not totally oblivious to the plight of many who wait months on NHS waiting lists due to lack of budgets, Josie says of her use of taxpayer money: ’I feel awful when I hear about people in need who are refused treatment, but I don’t decide who the NHS helps.’
'There’s a queue and we’re all in it together. If it was my child that was ill I’d move heaven and earth, like any parent, but I don’t make the rules.'
The case caused outrage last month after it was revealed the NHS had funded Josie's operation while just a few miles away two-year-old Oliver Dockerty, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been turned down for funding for an operation which could allow him to walk.
At the time his mother Claire said: 'Oliver has splints on his legs, a flexi-stand as he hasn’t got any balance, and uses a walking frame to get around.
'He wants to be jumping in muddy puddles like Peppa Pig. He wants to be kicking a football and he can’t jump on a trampoline. I’d love to see him walking unaided for his first day at primary school.
'I’m a single parent and I don’t have that kind of money. Even if they look again at the decision, there’s going to be a big backlog of children like Oliver waiting to have this done.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2358413/Josie-Cunningham-Model-regrets-5-000-NHS-boob-job-wants-reduced.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
What the hell?? There are sick children waiting for help and she gets to have a boob job??!! It's disgusting! As someone who has payed tax and struggled to make ends meet (even had to live on £10 per week for a few months when I was 19) then I feel so angry that there are people out there who think they can complain about the amount of money they are GIVEN (yes given, not earned like the rest of us) yet they still seem to have enough for sky tv, fags and booze!!!
I have worked since I was fifteen years old and have only stopped since I had Jake (I even paid my own way through uni) so am furious that my taxes go to such stupid and ungrateful people. Do they not realise how selfish they are? There are so many more deserving people in the world that would love to be given food for a week and would never dream of wasting that money on trivial things such as tv. I know which would go in our house if it was a choice between feeding my children or watching tv!! I bet some of you are thinking that I have no idea what it's like to be poor but my husband and I spend only what we earn and live within our means. If we don't have enough money for treats then we don't have them, simple as that. I don't expect others to buy them for me!
It's shocking the mindset of so many British people that they seem to think they are entitled to this stuff....you're not entitled to any of it....you have to earn it and if you can't be bothered to earn it then that's tough don't have it. Now I know there are some people who genuinely can't work and who need help and I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about people who think it's ok to live off the state just because they can. Who believe that the world owes them and are too bone idle to get off their backsides and get a job. I know how difficult it is to get a job, it took me 4 months to get my last teaching job and I had to travel 65 miles each way, every day to it. I did not turn it down though and say it was too far, I sucked it up and got on with it. There are too many people who think that everything has to be easy or they just can't be bothered. With that attitude humanity as a race would have ceased to exist long before now!!
Headline writers in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and the Daily Express all agree: a million Brits are fit to work but choose to live on benefits.
The figure comes from the government's progress report on its social justice strategy. In the foreword, Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for welfare and pensions, makes the argument for change from the old system.
We are making an historic break from a system that, despite many good intentions, failed those most in need – unwittingly fostering dependency rather than encouraging independence; maintaining people in disadvantage rather than transforming lives; spending public money without achieving outcomes or changing lives
One of the key indicators of social justice for IDS is worklessness – and for him it represents a "challenge".
Around 1 million people have been stuck on a working-age benefit for at least three out of the past four years, despite being judged capable of preparing or looking for work.
It is this implication that people are shirking their responsibility to society that is so troubling. Labour's Liam Byrne responded to this fear by saying: "We need to get these people off benefits and into jobs."
In fact, the data, contained in an ad hoc analysis, reveals another story entirely.
Consider the key Table 2 (below).
This shows that there were 2.3 million working age people on benefits over the last four years. Of these, about 1 million spent three to four years on benefits. However, 600,000 of these claimants are people not able to work – by the government's own definition. They are either in the Work Related Activity Group, lone parents with at least one young child or those being assessed in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check/2013/apr/24/benefits
Another story to make the news is below......
Tracey and Harry Crompton and their 10 children live for free in a massive seven-bedroom home (two semi-detached houses knocked through). And they boast that since the credit crunch has forced down prices of many non-essential items, they have even more cash to spend on treats.
'The jobless couple proudly show off £3,000 worth of presents they bought and wrapped weeks ago'
The family get a whopping £32,656 a year in benefits, which they use in part for their utility bills. And while the majority of parents are already dreading finding extra money for Christmas, the jobless couple proudly show off £3,000 worth of presents they bought and wrapped weeks ago.
“We’re not stupid enough to wait until the last minute to buy our Christmas presents,” boasts Tracey, 40, from Hull. “The shops put the prices up a month before Christmas Day so we get in early. The credit crunch has meant the prices have dropped even further on luxury things like electrical goods, so we’ve been able to buy loads more than usual.
“I’m not satisfied with the benefits we get – I want more. I haven’t been able to work because I’ve had to bring up the kids and Harry’s got health problems.”
Despite their parents’ unemployment, Michael, 20, Robin, 19, Matthew, 17, Sarah, 16, Samantha, 14, Harry Andrew, 12, Alex, 11, Kristian, nine, Jesse Lee, seven, and Joshua, six, will each unwrap a £100 Nintendo DS games console, as well as several other goodies. The eldest will get £100 in cash too.
“We like to splash out at Christmas and so far we’ve spent around £3,000 on it,” smiles Tracey. “We’ll probably spend more too.”
As they don’t work, the couple have plenty of time on their hands, so much of it is spent growing their own vegetables and tending to their chickens and geese (one of which will be Christmas dinner) in their 270ft-long garden. They even make their own wine.“I’m a dab hand at it now,” says 50-year-old Harry, who has been out of work for 15 years. He cites angina and irritable bowel syndrome as the reason, even though he admits to spending hours tending the family’s vegetable patch. “I make red and white wine from grapes grown in the garden. The best by far is my elderflower wine,” he says.
Much of the family’s benefits goes on luxury gadgets and toys. They have a PC, a laptop, numerous games consoles, including two PlayStations and two Xboxes, a DVD player, a video recorder, three TVs, a hi-fi music player, and their vast garden is equipped with a slide and 15ft trampoline.
'If the kids need something I go and get it'
Each child also carries around their own high-tech mobile phone so their parents can contact them at any time.
“If the kids need something I go and get it. I’m forever buying clothes too. I’m in Primark every two weeks updating them with the latest fashions,” says Tracey.
“I rarely go without things either. If I need something, like a new pair of shoes, then I’ll get it. I don’t have a dishwasher though, Harry is my dishwasher!” Shockingly, the freeloading family seem unaware that the rest of the country is struggling financially.
Tracey proudly says: “We don’t have money worries. We don’t go without things and I think that’s because we are self-sufficient. We grow our own food. I don’t see why others should have money worries. We keep 25 chickens, for eggs and meat, and grow potatoes and loads of vegetables. We make our own biscuits and cakes too.”
Despite their “Good Life” lifestyle, the family still spend £250 a week at the supermarket buying 50 bags of crisps, five family packs of chocolate biscuits and 10 litres of fizzy drinks, among other things.
Each night, Tracey, who has been married to Harry for 22 years, will cook dinners such as spaghetti Bolognese, spinach carbonara or chicken curry. She spends up to two hours making it and then serves the food in two sittings.
The family’s £120-a-week rent is covered by housing benefit and they rake in £628 a week in benefits, including income support, disability allowance, carer’s allowance and non-working family tax credits. A working parent would have to earn £46,500 a year before tax and National Insurance to bring home the same amount.
But the only wage earner in the house is oldest son Michael, 20, who contributes £15 a week from his £13k factory job. Matthew, 17, is training to be a chef and Robin is currently unemployed.
'Everytime I walk down the street, people shout 'scroungers' '
Surprisingly, the family seem bemused by the reaction they get from the local community, who shout abuse at them. “Every time I walk down the street, people shout ‘scroungers,’” moans Tracey.
Although Tracey has never had a job, she says life’s too short to do housework. Their walls are splattered with dirt and wallpaper is peeling from the weight of the grime. The mantelpiece is strewn with magazines, DVDs, and videos, and the floor has been bare since the carpet was pulled up and thrown away after a flood two years ago.
“I don’t have much time for cleaning since I started a college course in catering,” she says. “But I only go two mornings a week – any more and they’d stop my benefits because they’d classify me as in education.
"I’m really nervous about what will happen at the end of my course. I’ve never worked and so it would be scary to think I would have to get a job. It would have to be a very well-paid job to pay more than the benefits.”
http://www.closeronline.co.uk/2008/11/benefit-family-the-credit-crunch-is-great-for-us
So these people aren't that stupid then, they do know how much they would have to earn for them to be able to provide the same lifestyle if they worked for their own money!!! It is so infuriating for someone who pays and struggles, as do a lot of my friends and family, to be able to have a decent lifestyle and provide nice things for my children that I could not even come close to spending £100 on Jake for his birthday. We have bought him two second hand toys and a reduced in the sale toy for his birthday spending a grand total of £15. will he be any less happy with his toys? No of course not. And even if I had the money I would still buy him these items as it's different when it's your own cash isn't it - less easy to throw away on frivolities when you know you have been out all day working for it.
In conclusion then I think Britain needs a damn good kick up the bum. Those who need help should obviously get it but those who are scrounging off the rest of us tax payers with a latent sense of entitlement need to be stopped. no we don't want to pay for your kids, we want to pay for our own. No we don't care whether or not you are addicted to the fags, we don't want to buy them for you. We don't want to pay your bills, housing costs or for you to enjoy sky tv. We don't always get to go on holidays (have not been for three years now!!) so why should you?? What are you even holidaying from?? The general drudgery of sitting on your arse playing on your nintendo DS, watching sky tv and ordering take away. Yeah I thought so!! Get a job, get a life and stop leeching off ours! You might find you actually appreciate things more when you work for them. Rant over!! Have a nice days peeps!! FR.
Day Twenty-Three;
Ok so once again I feel like I am MELTING!!! I am hot and not in a good way so I won't bother you for long. I simply had to have a little rant about the staff at Hereford Leisure pool today......
So we decided to take our kids and my sister and her new baby to the swimming pool today (my niece's first swim!! - so cute!!) and have a swim to cool down before lunch. They have not done a lot to update the leisure pool in the 25 (at least) years I have been going there but its clean and a treat fr the kids so never had any problems before.
Upon arriving we were met with a surly receptionist who just sighed and said "oh god look at all the babies". If my all you mean two and a toddler then yes we had 'all the babies'!! We asked what change we needed for the locker and were told...."pound". Obviously not in her job description to actually be friendly and polite then.
We then had a lovely time sitting in the shallow end with Tabitha and my niece whilst Andy took Jake on the big tunnel slide and in the deep end with the wave machine. Just then we were shocked by a loud whistle. One of the life guards had blown his whistle. I looked round expecting to see someone drowning and instead realised he was telling a man off who was throwing his kid out of the water and back in again. Fair enough I thought, bit dangerous with so many children around. We settled back to chatting and then there it was again...a whistle, followed by another, then another and another!! This life guard was going crazy with the power!! Telling people off left, right and centre. Anyone who looked the wrong way at the slide was off, no questions asked and don't even get me started about the wave machine!! It's all very well being conscientious but there is a fine line between that and a kill joy!!
Towards the end Tabitha started to get grumpy so we decided to call it a day. Not before I've had another go with Jake on the slide I thought. Off we went and started the climb up to the top (extremely trying with a two year old who has discovered jumping and a slippery wet staircase). As we reached the top the life guard at the top appeared and said "sorry slide's closed". As we were near the top I explained that it would be very hard to get my son down (he can climb stairs but hasn't learnt to go down them yet) but she just kept saying "sorry's slide's closed" like a robotic idiot!! So thoroughly annoyed and more than a bit apprehensive I set off carrying Jake back down the stairs. It was slippery and wet so I really could of done without her walking really close behind me and sighing!!
So really today's rant goes back to what I have been moaning about re customer service in this country. When will people learn some manners!! When will they realise that us using the facilities or goods and services in the industry they work is the reason why they have a job! If we all put up with this behaviour then these people will continue to get away with it and in fact think its ok. Well enough! It's not ok to let me get to the top of a slide with a 2 year old only to say it's closed - put someone (maybe the whistle guy - he likes rules!!) at the bottom to tell people - knobs!! It's not ok to treat people like you wish they weren't there - for the love of God - I will say it again.....IF YOU DON'T LIKE PEOPLE DON'T WORK IN CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! FR.
Day Twenty-Four;
Apologies once again for being rubbish on the weekend - much harder to write when Andy is home and we can take kids out although I have been incommunicado without the internet for the last day or so. Thought lots would of happened in my absence but seems not.....still waiting for Kate's royal baby, nothing has happened on fb and even twitter seems quiet!! What's going on eh - it's this blasted heat - it's got to us all!!
So anyway my rant for day 24 is about Arriva trains Wales. Now we have all had a bad experience with a train I'm sure and this is not a new experience for me but it is a annoyingly repetitive one and one which you think will have rectified itself by the next time you take a train but no, no such luck!
So I purchased myself a ticket bound for Cardiff and having already looked online for ticket information knew I would be suffering the pleasure of a replacement bus service (and in this heat sigh!). On I got, stopping only to smile at the driver (I always smile at them, in case they have to chose who to pull from the wreckage etc .... that sounds awful but it's true) and found a seat directly under the sun roof. The air con was hardly going and it took us nearly half an hour to get out of Hereford. Once on the open road it was better but we then had to stop at Abergavenny, Pontypool and New Inn and Cwmbran before getting to Newport. At one point the driver told us he was lost and did anybody know the way to Pontypool!! This would have been bad enough but he had a sat-nav and written directions doh!!
So after missing two connections to Cardiff we arrived at Newport and were told to go to platform one where the train was waiting. Running in the blistering heat to get a train was not top of my list to do today but hey ho!! As we got to the doors of the train they shut and off they whizzed. FUCK!!! I pretty much screamed that as I had sat on a boiling hot bus, with a driver who did not know where he was going for nearly two and a half hours only to miss my third connection!! Well, you can imagine my joy when it was announced twenty minutes later that the next train was cancelled due to staff shortages!! Forty-five minutes later I finally got the fifth connection to Cardiff. I then had to sit next to a loud sweaty drunken Scot, with his top off, who insisted on burping and swearing all the way to Cardiff. Word to the wise - no one wants to see your flabby white bits (I have said flabby white bits and have asked people - no one wants to see them so put your top on!!) Oh what a joyful experience that journey was!!
So a crap service was had and once again I'm annoyed about the lack of customer care and the lack of pride people seem to take in their jobs. This is not the first problem Arriva Train Wales have had with customer service.......
“Pretty Poor Train Company”
Written on: 07/07/2013 by liamwelsh6 (2 reviews written)
I used to get an Arriva train to work every morning, but since the reliability of them and the cost, it was actually cheaper and more efficient for me to learn to drive.
Despite the fact that i was paying #5 a day for a 15 minuet train journey, the quality of travel was also pretty poor. i would rarely get a seat on the weekday morning rush hour 2 carriage train, and if i did manage to find a seat, there are more worthy applicant on the train that i happily give my seat to.
The train would often smell because of the poor quality of toilet provided and the air conditioning would never work. The staff were often rude to me and i have a much better morning now that i drive to work.
I am currently working on a job for network rail, this job consists of electrifying the current valley lines. hopefully the better quality rail will urge Arriva to get better trains, and also eliminate delays as the new trains are twice as fast.
Overall i would not recommend getting the train to anyone who lives around me, its probably the same price if not
Tracey and Harry Crompton and their 10 children live for free in a massive seven-bedroom home (two semi-detached houses knocked through). And they boast that since the credit crunch has forced down prices of many non-essential items, they have even more cash to spend on treats.
'The jobless couple proudly show off £3,000 worth of presents they bought and wrapped weeks ago'
The family get a whopping £32,656 a year in benefits, which they use in part for their utility bills. And while the majority of parents are already dreading finding extra money for Christmas, the jobless couple proudly show off £3,000 worth of presents they bought and wrapped weeks ago.
“We’re not stupid enough to wait until the last minute to buy our Christmas presents,” boasts Tracey, 40, from Hull. “The shops put the prices up a month before Christmas Day so we get in early. The credit crunch has meant the prices have dropped even further on luxury things like electrical goods, so we’ve been able to buy loads more than usual.
“I’m not satisfied with the benefits we get – I want more. I haven’t been able to work because I’ve had to bring up the kids and Harry’s got health problems.”
Despite their parents’ unemployment, Michael, 20, Robin, 19, Matthew, 17, Sarah, 16, Samantha, 14, Harry Andrew, 12, Alex, 11, Kristian, nine, Jesse Lee, seven, and Joshua, six, will each unwrap a £100 Nintendo DS games console, as well as several other goodies. The eldest will get £100 in cash too.
“We like to splash out at Christmas and so far we’ve spent around £3,000 on it,” smiles Tracey. “We’ll probably spend more too.”
As they don’t work, the couple have plenty of time on their hands, so much of it is spent growing their own vegetables and tending to their chickens and geese (one of which will be Christmas dinner) in their 270ft-long garden. They even make their own wine.“I’m a dab hand at it now,” says 50-year-old Harry, who has been out of work for 15 years. He cites angina and irritable bowel syndrome as the reason, even though he admits to spending hours tending the family’s vegetable patch. “I make red and white wine from grapes grown in the garden. The best by far is my elderflower wine,” he says.
Much of the family’s benefits goes on luxury gadgets and toys. They have a PC, a laptop, numerous games consoles, including two PlayStations and two Xboxes, a DVD player, a video recorder, three TVs, a hi-fi music player, and their vast garden is equipped with a slide and 15ft trampoline.
'If the kids need something I go and get it'
Each child also carries around their own high-tech mobile phone so their parents can contact them at any time.
“If the kids need something I go and get it. I’m forever buying clothes too. I’m in Primark every two weeks updating them with the latest fashions,” says Tracey.
“I rarely go without things either. If I need something, like a new pair of shoes, then I’ll get it. I don’t have a dishwasher though, Harry is my dishwasher!” Shockingly, the freeloading family seem unaware that the rest of the country is struggling financially.
Tracey proudly says: “We don’t have money worries. We don’t go without things and I think that’s because we are self-sufficient. We grow our own food. I don’t see why others should have money worries. We keep 25 chickens, for eggs and meat, and grow potatoes and loads of vegetables. We make our own biscuits and cakes too.”
Despite their “Good Life” lifestyle, the family still spend £250 a week at the supermarket buying 50 bags of crisps, five family packs of chocolate biscuits and 10 litres of fizzy drinks, among other things.
Each night, Tracey, who has been married to Harry for 22 years, will cook dinners such as spaghetti Bolognese, spinach carbonara or chicken curry. She spends up to two hours making it and then serves the food in two sittings.
The family’s £120-a-week rent is covered by housing benefit and they rake in £628 a week in benefits, including income support, disability allowance, carer’s allowance and non-working family tax credits. A working parent would have to earn £46,500 a year before tax and National Insurance to bring home the same amount.
But the only wage earner in the house is oldest son Michael, 20, who contributes £15 a week from his £13k factory job. Matthew, 17, is training to be a chef and Robin is currently unemployed.
'Everytime I walk down the street, people shout 'scroungers' '
Surprisingly, the family seem bemused by the reaction they get from the local community, who shout abuse at them. “Every time I walk down the street, people shout ‘scroungers,’” moans Tracey.
Although Tracey has never had a job, she says life’s too short to do housework. Their walls are splattered with dirt and wallpaper is peeling from the weight of the grime. The mantelpiece is strewn with magazines, DVDs, and videos, and the floor has been bare since the carpet was pulled up and thrown away after a flood two years ago.
“I don’t have much time for cleaning since I started a college course in catering,” she says. “But I only go two mornings a week – any more and they’d stop my benefits because they’d classify me as in education.
"I’m really nervous about what will happen at the end of my course. I’ve never worked and so it would be scary to think I would have to get a job. It would have to be a very well-paid job to pay more than the benefits.”
http://www.closeronline.co.uk/2008/11/benefit-family-the-credit-crunch-is-great-for-us
So these people aren't that stupid then, they do know how much they would have to earn for them to be able to provide the same lifestyle if they worked for their own money!!! It is so infuriating for someone who pays and struggles, as do a lot of my friends and family, to be able to have a decent lifestyle and provide nice things for my children that I could not even come close to spending £100 on Jake for his birthday. We have bought him two second hand toys and a reduced in the sale toy for his birthday spending a grand total of £15. will he be any less happy with his toys? No of course not. And even if I had the money I would still buy him these items as it's different when it's your own cash isn't it - less easy to throw away on frivolities when you know you have been out all day working for it.
In conclusion then I think Britain needs a damn good kick up the bum. Those who need help should obviously get it but those who are scrounging off the rest of us tax payers with a latent sense of entitlement need to be stopped. no we don't want to pay for your kids, we want to pay for our own. No we don't care whether or not you are addicted to the fags, we don't want to buy them for you. We don't want to pay your bills, housing costs or for you to enjoy sky tv. We don't always get to go on holidays (have not been for three years now!!) so why should you?? What are you even holidaying from?? The general drudgery of sitting on your arse playing on your nintendo DS, watching sky tv and ordering take away. Yeah I thought so!! Get a job, get a life and stop leeching off ours! You might find you actually appreciate things more when you work for them. Rant over!! Have a nice days peeps!! FR.
Day Twenty-Three;
Ok so once again I feel like I am MELTING!!! I am hot and not in a good way so I won't bother you for long. I simply had to have a little rant about the staff at Hereford Leisure pool today......
So we decided to take our kids and my sister and her new baby to the swimming pool today (my niece's first swim!! - so cute!!) and have a swim to cool down before lunch. They have not done a lot to update the leisure pool in the 25 (at least) years I have been going there but its clean and a treat fr the kids so never had any problems before.
Upon arriving we were met with a surly receptionist who just sighed and said "oh god look at all the babies". If my all you mean two and a toddler then yes we had 'all the babies'!! We asked what change we needed for the locker and were told...."pound". Obviously not in her job description to actually be friendly and polite then.
We then had a lovely time sitting in the shallow end with Tabitha and my niece whilst Andy took Jake on the big tunnel slide and in the deep end with the wave machine. Just then we were shocked by a loud whistle. One of the life guards had blown his whistle. I looked round expecting to see someone drowning and instead realised he was telling a man off who was throwing his kid out of the water and back in again. Fair enough I thought, bit dangerous with so many children around. We settled back to chatting and then there it was again...a whistle, followed by another, then another and another!! This life guard was going crazy with the power!! Telling people off left, right and centre. Anyone who looked the wrong way at the slide was off, no questions asked and don't even get me started about the wave machine!! It's all very well being conscientious but there is a fine line between that and a kill joy!!
Towards the end Tabitha started to get grumpy so we decided to call it a day. Not before I've had another go with Jake on the slide I thought. Off we went and started the climb up to the top (extremely trying with a two year old who has discovered jumping and a slippery wet staircase). As we reached the top the life guard at the top appeared and said "sorry slide's closed". As we were near the top I explained that it would be very hard to get my son down (he can climb stairs but hasn't learnt to go down them yet) but she just kept saying "sorry's slide's closed" like a robotic idiot!! So thoroughly annoyed and more than a bit apprehensive I set off carrying Jake back down the stairs. It was slippery and wet so I really could of done without her walking really close behind me and sighing!!
So really today's rant goes back to what I have been moaning about re customer service in this country. When will people learn some manners!! When will they realise that us using the facilities or goods and services in the industry they work is the reason why they have a job! If we all put up with this behaviour then these people will continue to get away with it and in fact think its ok. Well enough! It's not ok to let me get to the top of a slide with a 2 year old only to say it's closed - put someone (maybe the whistle guy - he likes rules!!) at the bottom to tell people - knobs!! It's not ok to treat people like you wish they weren't there - for the love of God - I will say it again.....IF YOU DON'T LIKE PEOPLE DON'T WORK IN CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! FR.
Day Twenty-Four;
Apologies once again for being rubbish on the weekend - much harder to write when Andy is home and we can take kids out although I have been incommunicado without the internet for the last day or so. Thought lots would of happened in my absence but seems not.....still waiting for Kate's royal baby, nothing has happened on fb and even twitter seems quiet!! What's going on eh - it's this blasted heat - it's got to us all!!
So anyway my rant for day 24 is about Arriva trains Wales. Now we have all had a bad experience with a train I'm sure and this is not a new experience for me but it is a annoyingly repetitive one and one which you think will have rectified itself by the next time you take a train but no, no such luck!
So I purchased myself a ticket bound for Cardiff and having already looked online for ticket information knew I would be suffering the pleasure of a replacement bus service (and in this heat sigh!). On I got, stopping only to smile at the driver (I always smile at them, in case they have to chose who to pull from the wreckage etc .... that sounds awful but it's true) and found a seat directly under the sun roof. The air con was hardly going and it took us nearly half an hour to get out of Hereford. Once on the open road it was better but we then had to stop at Abergavenny, Pontypool and New Inn and Cwmbran before getting to Newport. At one point the driver told us he was lost and did anybody know the way to Pontypool!! This would have been bad enough but he had a sat-nav and written directions doh!!
So after missing two connections to Cardiff we arrived at Newport and were told to go to platform one where the train was waiting. Running in the blistering heat to get a train was not top of my list to do today but hey ho!! As we got to the doors of the train they shut and off they whizzed. FUCK!!! I pretty much screamed that as I had sat on a boiling hot bus, with a driver who did not know where he was going for nearly two and a half hours only to miss my third connection!! Well, you can imagine my joy when it was announced twenty minutes later that the next train was cancelled due to staff shortages!! Forty-five minutes later I finally got the fifth connection to Cardiff. I then had to sit next to a loud sweaty drunken Scot, with his top off, who insisted on burping and swearing all the way to Cardiff. Word to the wise - no one wants to see your flabby white bits (I have said flabby white bits and have asked people - no one wants to see them so put your top on!!) Oh what a joyful experience that journey was!!
So a crap service was had and once again I'm annoyed about the lack of customer care and the lack of pride people seem to take in their jobs. This is not the first problem Arriva Train Wales have had with customer service.......
Shadow transport minister Byron Davies met with rail operator Arriva Trains Wales after receiving complaints that trains to Maesteg are often terminated at Tondu, leaving passengers stranded.
Mr Davies met commercial director Mike Bagshaw to raise the issue and address other concerns relating to overcrowding and departure platform confusion at Cardiff Central station.
This is the second time Mr Davies has taken Arriva to task about the issue after angry passengers complained after a train from Maesteg was cancelled in August last year.
The Tory AM told the Gazette: “We had a very full discussion and I was told some terminations were caused by problems with signalling or other rail infrastructure which is down to Network Rail.
“I have raised these matters myself in meetings I have had with Network Rail.”
Mr Davies said he was told by Arriva that it is aware of the problem even more so since a Bridgend County Borough Council-funded rail feeder bus was scrapped in December 2011.
He said he secured an assurance from Arriva that only trains running more than 16 minutes late will be terminated at Tondu.
“This is a very welcome move by Arriva and acknowledges the problems that these terminations were causing,” he said.
“This decision will allow more late-running trains to run through to Maesteg although there will, of course, be a knock-on effect on following trains.
“However, I think that people would prefer a train to come late than not at all which is what happens at the moment.
“I accept that if it is more than 16 minutes late, then it will terminate at Tondu in a bid to get the timetable back on track.
“There has to be a line drawn somewhere.”
Mr Davies highlighted the need for improvements to the line to increase rail frequency to a half-hourly service.
He said this would reduce overcrowding and reduce the impact of terminated trains.
When approached by the Gazette, Arriva Trains Wales declined to comment about the meeting.
Nor was this chap glowing in his review......
“Pretty Poor Train Company”
Written on: 07/07/2013 by liamwelsh6 (2 reviews written)
I used to get an Arriva train to work every morning, but since the reliability of them and the cost, it was actually cheaper and more efficient for me to learn to drive.
Despite the fact that i was paying #5 a day for a 15 minuet train journey, the quality of travel was also pretty poor. i would rarely get a seat on the weekday morning rush hour 2 carriage train, and if i did manage to find a seat, there are more worthy applicant on the train that i happily give my seat to.
The train would often smell because of the poor quality of toilet provided and the air conditioning would never work. The staff were often rude to me and i have a much better morning now that i drive to work.
I am currently working on a job for network rail, this job consists of electrifying the current valley lines. hopefully the better quality rail will urge Arriva to get better trains, and also eliminate delays as the new trains are twice as fast.
Overall i would not recommend getting the train to anyone who lives around me, its probably the same price if not
So is everyone annoyed? It would seem so.....
After a 10 hour flight, I arrived at a very wet & windy Manchester Airport on Saturday night- and boarded an Arriva Train with my 2 children (9 & 11) to get home.
We had 2 changes to make - and had no problems with the 1st 2 trains. Our final journey (2 hours) was via a bus supplied by Arriva (as stated in our tickets).
However upon arriving at Hereford Station at just after Midnight, myself and 8 other passengers discovered that there was NO bus waiting to pick us up.
Station was now closed...and there was no member of staff to speak to other than the driver/conductor (who were eager to get into their taxis to get home).
It took approx an hour...lots of phone calls and preventing the Arriva staff from going home before taxis arrived to take us home.
The Arriva staff say no bus was ever booked - which explains why no bus arrived to pick us up....
I am still furious - furious at having to wait for an hour in freezing cold conditions with 2 exhausted young children outside in the rain....they returned back to school with colds
Do I have grounds to complain, or even demand compensation? I also purchased insurance when I bought my tickets online.
We had 2 changes to make - and had no problems with the 1st 2 trains. Our final journey (2 hours) was via a bus supplied by Arriva (as stated in our tickets).
However upon arriving at Hereford Station at just after Midnight, myself and 8 other passengers discovered that there was NO bus waiting to pick us up.
Station was now closed...and there was no member of staff to speak to other than the driver/conductor (who were eager to get into their taxis to get home).
It took approx an hour...lots of phone calls and preventing the Arriva staff from going home before taxis arrived to take us home.
The Arriva staff say no bus was ever booked - which explains why no bus arrived to pick us up....
I am still furious - furious at having to wait for an hour in freezing cold conditions with 2 exhausted young children outside in the rain....they returned back to school with colds
Do I have grounds to complain, or even demand compensation? I also purchased insurance when I bought my tickets online.
All in all then there seems to be a vast array of people wanting and ready to complain about Arriva. As far as I can see they did not try very hard to make sure the bus replacement service actually did the same journey as the train (by actually being on time and with la driver who knew where he was going! I felt the confidence drop to zero after he asked us to put our hands up if we knew the way to Pontypool!!!) So why we charged the same amount of money for a second rate service is beyond me. I would complain but who has the time eh much better to blog about it!! Ha ha!! FR.
Day Twenty-Five;
This rant will have to be compiled tomorrow along with day twenty-six I'm afraid as I have some sleeping (ok heat induced tossing and turning) to do while the kids are (miraculously) both asleep. Until tomorrow peeps........
Ok so I'm back!! Another sweltering day and I'm kind of getting used to it, not enjoying it mind, but getting used to it. Yesterday's rant then was about people asking me for money or cigarettes in Cardiff. Seriously I have never been anywhere else where it's ok for normal people (ok chavs) to stand outside the train station hassling people for "fifty pee for the bus mate" or "have you got a fag". No and no!! Bog off!! Why on earth would I give you money!! Below picture from google...not someone I actually encountered but you get the idea.......
I hasten to add that I am categorically NOT talking about homeless people here. I am more than happy to give my change to the genuine homeless of which there are many in Cardiff. No who I'm talking about are people that spend all their money on drink or whatever then stand outside the bus and central train station asking people for change so they can get home. Whether or not they actually want to get home or whether they want more booze, drugs or whatever I don't know. What I do know is it's so bloody annoying!!
I'm not a frigging bank....organise your own money better so you don't have to ask people for money...I have to do it so you can too!!
I also got asked for fags.....I don't smoke did not go down well....maybe they thought I was lying, maybe they just wanted an excuse to tell me to fuck off, who knows. So here are some helpful hints to get rid of people who 'bum' fags off others...........
1) Tell them you don't smoke (does not go down well but what can they do!)
2) Tell them it's your last one (again does not go down well)
3) Tell them you bummed that fag yourself (not a great one as they might want to share it with you)
4) Tell them no (does not go down well)
Are you noticing a pattern? Yeah that's because the type of person who hangs around bus and train stations to bum fags and money is not a nice person and will have no qualms about telling you exactly what they think of you. They are cretins and should be taken away by the police as far as I'm concerned. My husband works hard for our money and I look after our kids on my own (which yes is a hard jobs some days) so I don't see why we should give our cash to people who can't manage to hang on to their own!! FR.
Ok so I'm back!! Another sweltering day and I'm kind of getting used to it, not enjoying it mind, but getting used to it. Yesterday's rant then was about people asking me for money or cigarettes in Cardiff. Seriously I have never been anywhere else where it's ok for normal people (ok chavs) to stand outside the train station hassling people for "fifty pee for the bus mate" or "have you got a fag". No and no!! Bog off!! Why on earth would I give you money!! Below picture from google...not someone I actually encountered but you get the idea.......
I hasten to add that I am categorically NOT talking about homeless people here. I am more than happy to give my change to the genuine homeless of which there are many in Cardiff. No who I'm talking about are people that spend all their money on drink or whatever then stand outside the bus and central train station asking people for change so they can get home. Whether or not they actually want to get home or whether they want more booze, drugs or whatever I don't know. What I do know is it's so bloody annoying!!
I'm not a frigging bank....organise your own money better so you don't have to ask people for money...I have to do it so you can too!!
I also got asked for fags.....I don't smoke did not go down well....maybe they thought I was lying, maybe they just wanted an excuse to tell me to fuck off, who knows. So here are some helpful hints to get rid of people who 'bum' fags off others...........
1) Tell them you don't smoke (does not go down well but what can they do!)
2) Tell them it's your last one (again does not go down well)
3) Tell them you bummed that fag yourself (not a great one as they might want to share it with you)
4) Tell them no (does not go down well)
Are you noticing a pattern? Yeah that's because the type of person who hangs around bus and train stations to bum fags and money is not a nice person and will have no qualms about telling you exactly what they think of you. They are cretins and should be taken away by the police as far as I'm concerned. My husband works hard for our money and I look after our kids on my own (which yes is a hard jobs some days) so I don't see why we should give our cash to people who can't manage to hang on to their own!! FR.
hahahaha priceless!!! u whine about ur kids on this blog now say how gr8 they r !!!! make ur mind up!!!!
ReplyDeleteShe looks filthy!!! Shud of dun sunthin about the face!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe Josie Cunningham needs something to boost her confidence, such as voluntary work or assertiveness classes. I think she should consider this before undertaking any sort of surgery.
ReplyDeleteThink she shud consider a bag insted - 2 hid her face!!!
ReplyDeleteWoudn't say no hahahaha!!!!!!Got any more pics FR??LOLLZ!!PS when u get a job u can complain til then bit hypercritical eh??
ReplyDeleteQuite agree Furious Ranter - it's simply too easy to spend money you haven't got in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a bit harsh Nikki. This young lady is clearly very self-conscious and talking that way about her isn't going to help her in this regard.
ReplyDeleteF*** off!!!!
ReplyDeleteCharming...
ReplyDeletehahahaha quality!!!!! now complaining about people looking after her kids'!!!!! what an idiotFR!!! U & Tanya shud get 2gether you'd make a gr8 couple!!!
ReplyDeletePoor you! I hate having to catch trains ever since an unfortunate incident in my childhood involving a French air steward and a plum tree! I'm certainly glad I now have enough money to be able to drive myself!
ReplyDeleteThat lass wid the saggin' diddies is absolutely boggin'! Not even the tide would take her out!
ReplyDeletepmsl lizzie u shoud now that fr doesnt have any money ps u shoud start ur own blog ur more intresting than fr
ReplyDeleteY dnt u strt a blog Dwane. o yeah no 1 gives a s*** wat u think!!!!
ReplyDeleteNikki, you really are a foul individual. First attacking me for having the audacity to speak my mind and now poor Duane as well. You are a coward and a bully. Shame on you.
ReplyDelete