Grumble Thread

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you both for the kind comments. Were it not for the almost certainty that anyone in charge of the RFH receiving my comments would immediately file them in their waste paper basket, I would take the trouble of finding out to whom I should be writing. I would have thought the self-evident drop in attendance numbers should be apparent whoever is in charge.

[smittims]

I loved the RFH in Ken Livingstone's time over 40 years ago ,when they opened up the first floor and there were lots of interesting things going on. I can't understand why some trendies have to come along and ruin everything. I've never been back to S.Pancras Satation since its alteration. All it needed was a lick of paint.

[french frank]

Were it not for the almost certainty that anyone in charge of the RFH receiving my comments would immediately file them in their waste paper basket, I would take the trouble of finding out to whom I should be writing.

I've never considered that a reason for not writing . I'm still dithering as to whether I should listen to Sam Jackson's Feedback effort and explain to him kindly where he has misunderstood or where he is misinforming. Copy the letter, of course, to others at the BBC.

[oddoneout]

Thank you both for the kind comments. Were it not for the almost certainty that anyone in charge of the RFH receiving my comments would immediately file them in their waste paper basket, I would take the trouble of finding out to whom I should be writing. I would have thought the self-evident drop in attendance numbers should be apparent whoever is in charge.

Noting a drop in attendance, and the possible(let alone correct) reasons for that, will live in different departments that don't talk to each other, let alone the people(FOH staff, members of the public, etc) who see things in what I believe is now referred to as IRL ( in real life). It seems to be the standard way of doing things, and something that often infuriated me when I worked in retail and then(although fortunately to a much lesser extent) in a "visitor attraction", where ideas from on high were dumped on customer facing staff who then had to deal with the fallout - unhappy members of the public, less effective ways of working etc. - and whose difficulties, comments and suggestions were totally ignored.

[kernelbogey]

There is a new (to me) habit of people conducting telephone calls on their mobile phone in public (e.g. on a train) in 'speaker' mode, so that both sides of the conversation are audible to all - usually at volume. And the same antisocial habit with watching a film or sports event with commentary. No headphones or buds, so....

[smittims]

I share your loathing . Another trend is to plug the phone into the car stereo so that the other person's voice is boomed out to the neighbourhood. I suppose they do this so that they can still use their phone in the car without breaking the law, but, like so many people's behaviour nowadays, it shows lack of consideration for others.

[Pulcinella]

There is a new (to me) habit of people conducting telephone calls on their mobile phone in public (e.g. on a train) in 'speaker' mode, so that both sides of the conversation are audible to all - usually at volume. And the same antisocial habit with watching a film or sports event with commentary. No headphones or buds, so....

I've just booked seats for a train journey later this month, and was a bit surprised to be offered the option of a Quiet carriage: I thought they'd been phased out.
It'll be interesting to see just how quiet it is!

[Serial_Apologist]

I share your loathing . Another trend is to plug the phone into the car stereo so that the other person's voice is boomed out to the neighbourhood. I suppose they do this so that they can still use their phone in the car without breaking the law, but, like so many people's behaviour nowadays, it shows lack of consideration for others.

That consideration was instilled into my generation in childhood - my mum would shush me on train journeys etc and say "Not everybody on this train wants to hear all about your story" The general view that "children should be seen but not heard" came to be viewed as repressive from the 1960s on, but sadly it was replaced by an opposite one that saw acting out as spiritually or psychologically liberating, to the extent that having to fall silent or whisper at most in libraries, places of worship, or at concerts suddenly felt anomalous. Thus the highly laudable rationale lying behind quietude was sacrificed, in my mind, to making the general clamour of modern-day information-saturated consciousness bludgeoning a kind of default or norm useful for exploiting today's lifestyle on more speed than time to think (let alone meditate),.

[kernelbogey]

...The general view that "children should be seen but not heard" came to be viewed as repressive from the 1960s on, but sadly it was replaced by an opposite one that saw acting out as spiritually or psychologically liberating...

It's not uncommon now for parents to let very small children scream in public, sometimes repeatedly, without restraint or reproof.

[oddoneout]

I've just booked seats for a train journey later this month, and was a bit surprised to be offered the option of a Quiet carriage: I thought they'd been phased out.
It'll be interesting to see just how quiet it is!

Not phased out but not enforced, so often don't work.

[Pulcinella]

Not phased out but not enforced, so often don't work.

I'll be taking my iPod and over-ear headphones (can't bear the little inside-ear type) so I fear I might cause some 'leakage' too.

[smittims]

oddoneout is right, Pulcinella. The 'Quiet ' coach exists largely in theory. Apparently it's not a Railway By-law so they can't insist, only request. I've had many experiences trying to persuade people to observe the rule.

[Dave2002]

It's not uncommon now for parents to let very small children scream in public, sometimes repeatedly, without restraint or reproof.

Some children are not quite so young either. I know it's difficult, but one flight we took a couple of years ago was horrendous because one youngish child screamed almost all the way for an hour.

[Dave2002]

Continuing the Santander PIN saga - not yet managed to get to a Santander ATM machine. However yesterday I thought I was close to a bank office I used to know - and it should have been an easy diversion to vistt that branch to get things sorted. Didn't work out well - as in the end we discovered the branch had closed. So I still have one credit card which at the moment I can't use. I hope that eventually I will be able to get this restored.

This is quite a nuisance, but is likely to prompt us to transfer most of our funds to yet another bank. Bank branch closures and ATM closures, and the shift towards not always such good online services, really are not serving customers well - and it's not only one bank which is operating in this way - many of the few that are left are almost as unhelpful.

[Serial_Apologist]

Dyson is to move its manufacturing operations to Malaysia, making half its UK workforce redundant. Why? Because in the final analysis there awaits a cheap, compliant workforce glad of the work. If ever there was an example of us living under a multinationals' dictatorship it was never more clearly illustrated. People on the right will say: well, British workers out price themselves in the jobs market and don't work hard enough, when deep down they know that technological advance is the main factor that increases productivity. But apologists for the capitalist system have to ask themselves: do they want a consumerist society, with all that that entails in fulfilling peoples dreams for home ownership and unsustainable living? Or do they want what Karl Marx pointed out to the be basis of a "healthy" capitalism: maximisation of profits and competitive advantage - which was the order of things before someone thought up the idea of buying off working class integrity with blandishments and a so-called "stake" in society, disregardful of all the insecurities involved?