careful what you say, jerry is one of these social cleansing victims. I wonder if she has a telly in her bedroom?
I signed on once, I literally mean once, I was about 20, had worked from 17, I remember going to Shields to sign on and the lass was pretty tasty, and had nice nails. As a cocky young buck, I went in for the flirt, and she looked at me like I was a piece of ****. I vowed never to take a penny from the state again, and I never did, i'm even one of about 4 people in the whole of Spain that declares their income here. I don't have any gripe with people with genuine circumstances which prevent them from earning a living, but I would go toe-to-toe with any lazy bastard who decides that they'd prefer to take other peoples money out of choice and concoct bullshit to be lazy. Being a Seaburn lad, i've not really met any of these people, everybody I know was a grafter, and most were quite fiercely ambitious to make something of their lives, several of my friends from Seaburn now have successful businesses at home and abroad, and the most successful of all was far from a bright spark at school. The problem is amplified when a lazy ****er decides kids, and therefore more benefit, is a life choice, what kind of start is that for a young 'un? I vow not to have children until i'm cast iron certain I can provide for them for 18 years, but even if I was fabulously wealthy, they'd have the value of money, work & ambition drilled into them. If this is me on a high horse, so ****ing be it, I won't be getting off it. I love my country, and part of the reason I left it behind was the way other have removed the greatness. That, and the fact it's sunny here...
I'm with you all the way regarding kids..I didn't start a family until I knew I could afford to give them a decent upbringing..
When I moved to Scarborough, my first preparation for retirement, I found myself shafted and out of work so made an appointment to sign on. I well remember my registration appointment, the young lady looked at my age, past employment and income and said we wont be able to get you a job, you are over qualified. I asked if there were any jobs, yes she said but you wont be interested, nobody is, it was a 3 month job, in a Warehouse picking orders on minimum wage, I asked her to get me an interview. The man who interviewed me said look, you wont stick it, over qualified sales director, I said I'm not I'm an unemployed 50 year old who needs a job, started next morning and loved it. Mind I was ****ed the first week, stiff and ****ed. BTW, they were right, I did not stick it, opened a shop within the three months and built me a business selling cheap crap to holiday makers, most from Leeds so no guilt.
See, that's great stuff Syd. Would I rather sit on my arse and get £60 a week or whatever, or graft for 40 hours and take home minimum wage (i don't know what it is, but I guess it's £250 a week ish?) There's also the fact that some of my greatest, lifelong friends, some cracking birds, some great holidays and nights out, my ability to retain a season ticket and drive a nice car, all revolved around the fact I was employed. To this day, I miss the banter of working in a sales team, some of the craic , wind-ups and banter, and friendships I made meant easily as much, some way more , than the money. Working is not just about money, it's about self pride, meeting people, challenging yourself, whatever that may be.
I loved working in that wharehouse, the people were all rough as ****, said it how it was but salt of the earth, I loved every day. Same happened when I came back to Durham after my last divorce, could not get me a job so joined an agency and started at a factory in Aycliffe on continental shifts. Not good at working for people so did a deal with DHL for self employed courier, hired a van and off I popped. Only gave that up when sleeping in the van became hard work and hours to long so got a job with NUFC and stayed until I decided to retire and take my pension.
RAWhite Seriously you blame "Rich bankers" for the mess we are in? The few hundred million quid that the rich bankers take home in their pockets is bringing western civilisation to it's knees? That's a very blind statement considering the cost of fraud in the insurance industry is probably 100 times greater than the combined sum of what "Rich bankers" are earning. The reason we're in this mess is simple, and it is applicable to the entire Western Civilisation - Consumerism & Greed. Don't buy a car that does 12 miles to the gallon then complain about the price of petrol. My national insurance pays for people on benefits to be housed, but one day it might just pay for the £2m worth of equipment that's needed to save my life. People in this country are just too happy to stand around moaning like some sad old pensioner, constantly pointing fingers at others.
Gotta say Terry, nobody mentioned fuel prices and tax as a gripe on this thread, we are talking about people who take from the system rather than pay in. I drive a '12mpg' car, as I did when I lived in England, and although the cost of fuel pisses me off, I see it as being ofset by the love of owning the car itself. This is a different debate marra, what we are discussing is the abuse of the system by lazy ****ers, not the way the system collects the money to fund them.
I am on Terry's side, drove a 7 series BMW then aJag in my hey day, cant afford one now so down with the rich
Sorry Syd...but we have to work at what we want........be that take it where we must.................... Some want it all and want it on their doorstep, signed sealed and delivered.......... I don't buy into this concept......sorry....
So that could take us into a whole new debate......... Just how far or what job would you be willing to take, in order to support yourself or your family?
