Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Bad Behaviour Rising in Grass Roots Football
CHILDREN’S football matches in Cardiff are being spoiled by bad behaviour by parents and coaches, it has been claimed.
Cardiff and District League Secretary Robin Davies said there had even been allegations of racial abuse this season- something that has never happened before.
Mr Davies said: "We've got an ongoing problem with the attitude of parents and the attitude of managers, which rubs off on the kids.
"Gradually, behaviour has been deteriorating over the years. I've been here since 1982 and we didn't have these problems then."
My view is there are lots of very positive reasons for getting children involved in football. It’s certainly better for their health than sitting around in front of some computer console playing a simulated version of the beautiful game.
At its best, football can teach children a huge amount about life: The importance of teamwork, having self-discipline, showing respect to authority, to take pride in victory, and, yes, to accept that you can’t win every time.
Of course, one of the big advantages of getting plenty of children involved in football is that from time to time we’ll come across a really gifted player who will go on to grace the professional ranks.
As far as I’m concerned, the blame for these horrid accounts of bad behaviour lies squarely with the adults. They are the ones who are supposed to set the example for the youngsters to follow. Bad language, bad tempers and lack of self-control are all negative qualities and the adults do themselves no favours by exercising these things in front of children.
I’ve seen plenty of this sort of thing to know what’s going on. The coaches are usually the parents of one of the children playing. When they were younger, they wanted to be a professional player, but weren’t good enough. Now they’re older, they think they’re God’s gift to management and coaching, even though there’s no evidence to suggest they know the first thing about either. As with many parents, they’re trying to live their own dreams through their children, which is rarely a good idea.
One Cardiff club's secretary, who did not want to be identified, said one of his coaches tried to speak to the other team's coach about some of their tackles.
"The other coach got his hair off and shoved him in the chest for no reason.
"When he was shoved, one of their club's parents came over rapidly across the pitch shouting 'I'll knock your effing head off'.
"Not happy saying it once, he came charging up and said it again within full earshot of the kids and the parents. It shouldn't have happened."
This sort of behaviour is bang out of order- what does it teach children about how to deal with differences of opinion?
Brian Clough once said that one way you could clean up bad behaviour on the pitch from players was to start fining the managers every time one of their players stepped out of line.
It sounds drastic, but applying these principles at grass roots level may be the most efficient way of sorting this problem out.
The referee should be made to give a match report every time. In it should include any instances of foul or abusive language or behaviour from a coach or parent. The club should then face an automatic £1,000 fine. Failure to pay up should result in the team being excluded from the league for a year, and when they return, they should do so in the bottom tier.
Football has the ability to teach children many good habits. Let’s not see the game ruined by adults who put their own egos and fickle ambitions before the children’s best interests.
Cardiff and District League Secretary Robin Davies said there had even been allegations of racial abuse this season- something that has never happened before.
Mr Davies said: "We've got an ongoing problem with the attitude of parents and the attitude of managers, which rubs off on the kids.
"Gradually, behaviour has been deteriorating over the years. I've been here since 1982 and we didn't have these problems then."
My view is there are lots of very positive reasons for getting children involved in football. It’s certainly better for their health than sitting around in front of some computer console playing a simulated version of the beautiful game.
At its best, football can teach children a huge amount about life: The importance of teamwork, having self-discipline, showing respect to authority, to take pride in victory, and, yes, to accept that you can’t win every time.
Of course, one of the big advantages of getting plenty of children involved in football is that from time to time we’ll come across a really gifted player who will go on to grace the professional ranks.
As far as I’m concerned, the blame for these horrid accounts of bad behaviour lies squarely with the adults. They are the ones who are supposed to set the example for the youngsters to follow. Bad language, bad tempers and lack of self-control are all negative qualities and the adults do themselves no favours by exercising these things in front of children.
I’ve seen plenty of this sort of thing to know what’s going on. The coaches are usually the parents of one of the children playing. When they were younger, they wanted to be a professional player, but weren’t good enough. Now they’re older, they think they’re God’s gift to management and coaching, even though there’s no evidence to suggest they know the first thing about either. As with many parents, they’re trying to live their own dreams through their children, which is rarely a good idea.
One Cardiff club's secretary, who did not want to be identified, said one of his coaches tried to speak to the other team's coach about some of their tackles.
"The other coach got his hair off and shoved him in the chest for no reason.
"When he was shoved, one of their club's parents came over rapidly across the pitch shouting 'I'll knock your effing head off'.
"Not happy saying it once, he came charging up and said it again within full earshot of the kids and the parents. It shouldn't have happened."
This sort of behaviour is bang out of order- what does it teach children about how to deal with differences of opinion?
Brian Clough once said that one way you could clean up bad behaviour on the pitch from players was to start fining the managers every time one of their players stepped out of line.
It sounds drastic, but applying these principles at grass roots level may be the most efficient way of sorting this problem out.
The referee should be made to give a match report every time. In it should include any instances of foul or abusive language or behaviour from a coach or parent. The club should then face an automatic £1,000 fine. Failure to pay up should result in the team being excluded from the league for a year, and when they return, they should do so in the bottom tier.
Football has the ability to teach children many good habits. Let’s not see the game ruined by adults who put their own egos and fickle ambitions before the children’s best interests.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Film Review- This Is England
The concept of the film is easy enough to understand. A young lad’s father is killed fighting in the Falklands, and he goes off the rails as he struggles to adjust to life without him. Unfortunately, that’s where the depth of the plot ends.
Fans of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes will enjoy this film for the chance to spot anachronisms, since it was set in July 1983. Two things in particular stand out. Firstly, there are a few scenes where the characters are sat in front of the TV watching Blockbusters. A few real anoraks will note that the programme didn’t begin its long run until August 1983, but more importantly, the clips they used clearly came from the late 80s or early 90s, since the computer graphics and set wouldn’t have been possible using the technology of the time.
Secondly, there were shots of street lighting that wouldn’t have been in use until a good four years later. There were also quite a few shots of very old cars, dating back to the late 1960s. Plausible, but fairly unlikely to still be in use by this stage.
The plot itself doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Director Shane Meadows wants to convey the message that skinhead culture has its roots in Jamaican ska culture, before being adopted by the National Front, but not enough effort is made to explain this to the uneducated.
At the beginning, a 12-year-old boy called Shaun gets into a fight at school after another, slightly older boy makes insulting remarks about his late father.
On his way home, and feeling a bit down in the dumps, he meets a skinhead gang, consisting entirely of older lads, who take him on board and turn him into one of them.
The gang, who are on the wild side but show no signs of racism, even including Milky, a black character among their gang. They are led by the sympathetic and likeable Woody, who becomes something of a paternalistic figure to Shaun in the first half of the film.
Things start to go badly wrong when Woody’s much older friend Combo is released from prison after serving a three-year prison sentence.
Combo immediately reassumes control of the gang and orders them all around his flat, where he proceeds to make a subtly racist speech. He doesn’t go as far as to condemn all immigrants, and even seduces Milky into liking his ideas, but some of the smarter members of the gang, especially Woody and the female members, look uneasy at what he is saying.
Combo’s speech ends with him calling for the gang to fight to get their country back, and he draws a line in the floor with his spit and orders anyone who is not onside to leave. This causes a split in the gang, so Woody and the smarter members leave the room.
After this point, the second half of the film is all about brainwashing Shaun into National Front culture. Given an extra hour, this could have panned out into a believable and brutally real account of NF culture in the early 80s. Yes, it’s clear Shaun has “got in with the wrong crowd”, but we never really get to see the extent to which he has been sucked in by the NF’s core beliefs. The second hour could have become something greater, but it all felt very rushed. The themes and issues were just not given the time to develop. Perhaps the budget was running out.
The film ends with Combo smoking marijuana before beating Milky unconscious, and then seeks Shaun’s help to get him to hospital after realising the seriousness of what he’s done after calming down. We never find out whether Milky recovers, but it seems unlikely. Shaun then realises, without saying anything, the unpleasant nature of the crowd he had got in with, and knows deep down this is not how his father would want him to live his life. The film ends with Shaun throwing his England flag into the sea.
Huge credit must be given to the excellent Thomas Turgoose for his portrayal of Shaun as a cocky and confident yet easily manipulated young lad, somewhat ahead of his time. Joe Gilgun as Woody often deserves a mention. Rough and ready on the outside, yet scratch the surface and we soon see a fatherly figure with a strong moral compass, who expects the others to follow his lead.
What could have been a much better film has let itself down due to a lack of time (and, one suspects, a small budget). However, anyone over the age of 35 will enjoy the more-or-less realistic trip back to 1983.
Despite the very obvious problems of the estate on which the film is set, there is a certain innocence about it. Being part of Woody’s gang brings with it a sense of belonging and a strong moral code, despite instances of petty crime. The female members also add something important to the gang, as a sort of restraining influence on some of their excesses.
Growing up on an estate such as this and being part of Woody’s gang would have been a far safer experience than being there today, with the booze-fuelled drug and knife culture that would no doubt exist there now.
Fans of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes will enjoy this film for the chance to spot anachronisms, since it was set in July 1983. Two things in particular stand out. Firstly, there are a few scenes where the characters are sat in front of the TV watching Blockbusters. A few real anoraks will note that the programme didn’t begin its long run until August 1983, but more importantly, the clips they used clearly came from the late 80s or early 90s, since the computer graphics and set wouldn’t have been possible using the technology of the time.
Secondly, there were shots of street lighting that wouldn’t have been in use until a good four years later. There were also quite a few shots of very old cars, dating back to the late 1960s. Plausible, but fairly unlikely to still be in use by this stage.
The plot itself doesn’t really seem to go anywhere. Director Shane Meadows wants to convey the message that skinhead culture has its roots in Jamaican ska culture, before being adopted by the National Front, but not enough effort is made to explain this to the uneducated.
At the beginning, a 12-year-old boy called Shaun gets into a fight at school after another, slightly older boy makes insulting remarks about his late father.
On his way home, and feeling a bit down in the dumps, he meets a skinhead gang, consisting entirely of older lads, who take him on board and turn him into one of them.
The gang, who are on the wild side but show no signs of racism, even including Milky, a black character among their gang. They are led by the sympathetic and likeable Woody, who becomes something of a paternalistic figure to Shaun in the first half of the film.
Things start to go badly wrong when Woody’s much older friend Combo is released from prison after serving a three-year prison sentence.
Combo immediately reassumes control of the gang and orders them all around his flat, where he proceeds to make a subtly racist speech. He doesn’t go as far as to condemn all immigrants, and even seduces Milky into liking his ideas, but some of the smarter members of the gang, especially Woody and the female members, look uneasy at what he is saying.
Combo’s speech ends with him calling for the gang to fight to get their country back, and he draws a line in the floor with his spit and orders anyone who is not onside to leave. This causes a split in the gang, so Woody and the smarter members leave the room.
After this point, the second half of the film is all about brainwashing Shaun into National Front culture. Given an extra hour, this could have panned out into a believable and brutally real account of NF culture in the early 80s. Yes, it’s clear Shaun has “got in with the wrong crowd”, but we never really get to see the extent to which he has been sucked in by the NF’s core beliefs. The second hour could have become something greater, but it all felt very rushed. The themes and issues were just not given the time to develop. Perhaps the budget was running out.
The film ends with Combo smoking marijuana before beating Milky unconscious, and then seeks Shaun’s help to get him to hospital after realising the seriousness of what he’s done after calming down. We never find out whether Milky recovers, but it seems unlikely. Shaun then realises, without saying anything, the unpleasant nature of the crowd he had got in with, and knows deep down this is not how his father would want him to live his life. The film ends with Shaun throwing his England flag into the sea.
Huge credit must be given to the excellent Thomas Turgoose for his portrayal of Shaun as a cocky and confident yet easily manipulated young lad, somewhat ahead of his time. Joe Gilgun as Woody often deserves a mention. Rough and ready on the outside, yet scratch the surface and we soon see a fatherly figure with a strong moral compass, who expects the others to follow his lead.
What could have been a much better film has let itself down due to a lack of time (and, one suspects, a small budget). However, anyone over the age of 35 will enjoy the more-or-less realistic trip back to 1983.
Despite the very obvious problems of the estate on which the film is set, there is a certain innocence about it. Being part of Woody’s gang brings with it a sense of belonging and a strong moral code, despite instances of petty crime. The female members also add something important to the gang, as a sort of restraining influence on some of their excesses.
Growing up on an estate such as this and being part of Woody’s gang would have been a far safer experience than being there today, with the booze-fuelled drug and knife culture that would no doubt exist there now.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Changing Face of Christian Worship in Wales
I SAW a fascinating programme earlier tonight on BBC One Wales showing how the nature of Christian worship is changing rapidly in the country.
Essentially, the programme focussed on the fact that Evangelical Christianity is rapidly growing in popularity, with a large number of their congregations being below the average age, while traditional Church in Wales services are attended by dwindling, ageing believers.
What the programme failed to look on was the even wider picture of Christianity. I know that, in Liverpool, where I lived for a few years earlier in this decade, attendances for Roman Catholic Masses have risen significantly in recent years, especially at the Metropolitan Cathedral (Paddy’s Wigwam).
The main reason for this is the influx of Catholic immigrants from Eastern Europe, especially Poland, who come with a strong affiliation to Rome. In a very short space of time, the Catholic Church has seen a resurgence in pockets of Britain where large numbers of Eastern Europeans have settled.
It became clear to me through watching this programme that the Church in Wales is suffering from something of an identity crisis, even if it chooses to live in denial for the time being.
I’ve met and liked Archbishop Rowan Williams, but it seems clear to me that his church no longer knows what it stands for or represents. It has dropped, or at least loosened, many of the moral teachings that used to define it as a church. Women priests are in; women bishops soon will be. Open homosexuality is accepted amongst the clergy, and in many churches gay marriages can receive a blessing. These matters seem largely at the discretion of the parish vicar.
Yet at the same time, the traditional, Mass-like services remain intact. The Anglican Church in England and Wales seems to consist of a compromise between Biblical teachings and societal trends. The danger is, if it doesn’t know what it stands for, it may soon stand for nothing. In 1990, some 60,000 people worshipped in Anglican churches in Wales. Today, it is just 48,000. Without wishing to sound cruel, by looking around the congregations and noting the average age, this figure will probably halve during the next 15 years.
One thing is clear: Aside from the Eastern European influx into the Catholic Church, congregations tend to consist mostly of over 65s and under 30s. Yes, a surprising number of young people attend church services, and there is perhaps a growing trend among the younger generation to discover a greater meaning to life in our consumer and money-driven society.
History teaches us that secular societies don’t tend to last for very long, and based on these patterns, Britain is due a religious revival. A rapidly growing number of people, particularly the young, are inspired by the uplifting nature of Evangelical services, and see the teachings that come with it as a welcome alternative to the booze-fuelled, permissive and yobbish society in which we find ourselves. We can expect them to have a far greater role in our society during the next few decades.
The Catholic Church may be the chief beneficiary of a religious revival. Aside from the boost recent immigration has given to congregations, many people may be attracted by the way in which the Church bucks some of the trends of society, by sticking to a set of rules and moral standards that have remained largely constant for centuries. It knows what it stands for; it knows what it believes in, and it doesn’t feel the need to change its core values to match those of the prevailing wind.
The one key question is; Where does all this leave the Anglican Church? The ongoing debate about women bishops and its struggle to find a consistent stance on homosexuality threatens to tear it apart. In 30 years’ time, will it have much of a congregation left at all?
Essentially, the programme focussed on the fact that Evangelical Christianity is rapidly growing in popularity, with a large number of their congregations being below the average age, while traditional Church in Wales services are attended by dwindling, ageing believers.
What the programme failed to look on was the even wider picture of Christianity. I know that, in Liverpool, where I lived for a few years earlier in this decade, attendances for Roman Catholic Masses have risen significantly in recent years, especially at the Metropolitan Cathedral (Paddy’s Wigwam).
The main reason for this is the influx of Catholic immigrants from Eastern Europe, especially Poland, who come with a strong affiliation to Rome. In a very short space of time, the Catholic Church has seen a resurgence in pockets of Britain where large numbers of Eastern Europeans have settled.
It became clear to me through watching this programme that the Church in Wales is suffering from something of an identity crisis, even if it chooses to live in denial for the time being.
I’ve met and liked Archbishop Rowan Williams, but it seems clear to me that his church no longer knows what it stands for or represents. It has dropped, or at least loosened, many of the moral teachings that used to define it as a church. Women priests are in; women bishops soon will be. Open homosexuality is accepted amongst the clergy, and in many churches gay marriages can receive a blessing. These matters seem largely at the discretion of the parish vicar.
Yet at the same time, the traditional, Mass-like services remain intact. The Anglican Church in England and Wales seems to consist of a compromise between Biblical teachings and societal trends. The danger is, if it doesn’t know what it stands for, it may soon stand for nothing. In 1990, some 60,000 people worshipped in Anglican churches in Wales. Today, it is just 48,000. Without wishing to sound cruel, by looking around the congregations and noting the average age, this figure will probably halve during the next 15 years.
One thing is clear: Aside from the Eastern European influx into the Catholic Church, congregations tend to consist mostly of over 65s and under 30s. Yes, a surprising number of young people attend church services, and there is perhaps a growing trend among the younger generation to discover a greater meaning to life in our consumer and money-driven society.
History teaches us that secular societies don’t tend to last for very long, and based on these patterns, Britain is due a religious revival. A rapidly growing number of people, particularly the young, are inspired by the uplifting nature of Evangelical services, and see the teachings that come with it as a welcome alternative to the booze-fuelled, permissive and yobbish society in which we find ourselves. We can expect them to have a far greater role in our society during the next few decades.
The Catholic Church may be the chief beneficiary of a religious revival. Aside from the boost recent immigration has given to congregations, many people may be attracted by the way in which the Church bucks some of the trends of society, by sticking to a set of rules and moral standards that have remained largely constant for centuries. It knows what it stands for; it knows what it believes in, and it doesn’t feel the need to change its core values to match those of the prevailing wind.
The one key question is; Where does all this leave the Anglican Church? The ongoing debate about women bishops and its struggle to find a consistent stance on homosexuality threatens to tear it apart. In 30 years’ time, will it have much of a congregation left at all?
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Johnson, not McKinnon, is the REAL threat to our liberty
OF course Gary McKinnon should not be extradited to the United States.
If anything, the US government should be employing him to help improve the security on their computer systems, rather than threatening to lock him up for the rest of his life.
It’s blatantly obvious that Mr McKinnon is in no way a threat to the security of the United States or to Britain.
He’s a computer geek with Asperger’s syndrome, which produces the sort of compulsive behaviour that would make him obsessed with things he finds interesting.
Fans of Coronation Street can compare Mr McKinnon to Roy Cropper, who also shows signs of the condition.
Roy has an obsessive interest in history and model railways, while Mr McKinnon goes for computer geekery and UFOs. The two men even look slightly alike.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this case has been the attitude of Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who says he doesn’t have the power to interfere in this case.
Yesterday, Harriet Harman said that Mr Johnson has to send Mr McKinnon to the USA because he does not want to break the law.
What she failed to mention was that Mr Johnson is breaking the law every day by ignoring the European Court of Human Rights ruling that says the UK can’t keep the DNA of people who have been found innocent of crime or have never been charged.
People on the DNA database include Chris Tarrant, who was arrested after he committed the heinous crime of throwing a spoon at someone in a restaurant.
The police arrested him, questioned him for a bit, and then let him go without charge, realising the whole thing was a fuss about nothing.
But Mr Tarrant’s DNA will remain on the database indefinitely, even though he’s been convicted of nothing in a court of law.
This is fine in Mr Johnson’s book, probably in the name of that catch-all phrase ‘fighting terrorism’.
So if you’re a person who has been arrested by mistake, or were a bit rowdy on a night out and spent a few hours in the cells, your DNA will now be kept for good. You’re a potential terrorist, you see.
Mr Johnson is breaking the law when it suits him. This ECHR ruling gets in the way of this government’s plan get us all tagged, fingerprinted and swabbed, and turn us into the most surveyed and monitored country in the world (we may be there already, in fact).
If he can stick two fingers up to the ECHR, why can’t he do the same to the Americans, just on this matter?
A polite phone call to President Obama, pointing out the absurdity of it all, should do the trick.
While we’re on the subject of the global terror threat, I’m not convinced that North Korea is anything to worry about.
Beyond the facade that the vain, delusional Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il likes to present to the world, is a desperately poor country where very little works, and even soldiers aren’t given enough food to live on.
The regime will very likely self-implode within a decade; they’re a lot closer to breaking point than most people realise.
Even so, I cannot condone the visit of Bill Clinton to the country, in the hope of securing the release of two US journalists currently serving 12 years’ hard labour in a North Korean prison.
Kim Jong-Il is like an attention-seeking child, except on a bigger scale.
Bill Clinton’s pandering to him is a bit like a parent giving a sweet to a badly behaved child to shut him up.
It diffuses the immediate situation, but does nothing to solve the problem in the long run.
If anything, the US government should be employing him to help improve the security on their computer systems, rather than threatening to lock him up for the rest of his life.
It’s blatantly obvious that Mr McKinnon is in no way a threat to the security of the United States or to Britain.
He’s a computer geek with Asperger’s syndrome, which produces the sort of compulsive behaviour that would make him obsessed with things he finds interesting.
Fans of Coronation Street can compare Mr McKinnon to Roy Cropper, who also shows signs of the condition.
Roy has an obsessive interest in history and model railways, while Mr McKinnon goes for computer geekery and UFOs. The two men even look slightly alike.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this case has been the attitude of Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who says he doesn’t have the power to interfere in this case.
Yesterday, Harriet Harman said that Mr Johnson has to send Mr McKinnon to the USA because he does not want to break the law.
What she failed to mention was that Mr Johnson is breaking the law every day by ignoring the European Court of Human Rights ruling that says the UK can’t keep the DNA of people who have been found innocent of crime or have never been charged.
People on the DNA database include Chris Tarrant, who was arrested after he committed the heinous crime of throwing a spoon at someone in a restaurant.
The police arrested him, questioned him for a bit, and then let him go without charge, realising the whole thing was a fuss about nothing.
But Mr Tarrant’s DNA will remain on the database indefinitely, even though he’s been convicted of nothing in a court of law.
This is fine in Mr Johnson’s book, probably in the name of that catch-all phrase ‘fighting terrorism’.
So if you’re a person who has been arrested by mistake, or were a bit rowdy on a night out and spent a few hours in the cells, your DNA will now be kept for good. You’re a potential terrorist, you see.
Mr Johnson is breaking the law when it suits him. This ECHR ruling gets in the way of this government’s plan get us all tagged, fingerprinted and swabbed, and turn us into the most surveyed and monitored country in the world (we may be there already, in fact).
If he can stick two fingers up to the ECHR, why can’t he do the same to the Americans, just on this matter?
A polite phone call to President Obama, pointing out the absurdity of it all, should do the trick.
While we’re on the subject of the global terror threat, I’m not convinced that North Korea is anything to worry about.
Beyond the facade that the vain, delusional Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il likes to present to the world, is a desperately poor country where very little works, and even soldiers aren’t given enough food to live on.
The regime will very likely self-implode within a decade; they’re a lot closer to breaking point than most people realise.
Even so, I cannot condone the visit of Bill Clinton to the country, in the hope of securing the release of two US journalists currently serving 12 years’ hard labour in a North Korean prison.
Kim Jong-Il is like an attention-seeking child, except on a bigger scale.
Bill Clinton’s pandering to him is a bit like a parent giving a sweet to a badly behaved child to shut him up.
It diffuses the immediate situation, but does nothing to solve the problem in the long run.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Estate Agents Have The Reputation They Deserve
THEY say moving house is one of the most stressful things a person ever does.
I’m sure that’s true- it’s bad enough the stress of packing all your furniture and dealing with all the legal paperwork involved.
Yet surely the whole thing could be made so much easier if only estate agents behaved like normal human beings.
It seems pretty obvious to me that many estate agents pay their staff on a commission basis for every property they sell.
Quite a few, which are part of national chains, employ mostly younger people who are encouraged to bend the truth to get the sale, because it’s the only way they’ll be putting any bread on the table.
From the employer’s point of view, it’s not a bad way of getting around the minimum wage.
These factors are largely behind why estate agents have such a bad reputation with us mere mortals.
For those of you who don’t know me personally, let me explain why I’ve been in such a funny mood for the last week or so:
I’ve recently sold my house, and am looking to downsize to a decent flat in a reasonable area of Cardiff.
I found myself a decent flat in the Cardiff Bay area, but had two questions for the estate agent before I put an offer in.
1. How much is the ground rent/service charge?
2. Is it a cable area, or are satellite dishes allowed?
The answer to the first question was very reasonable for the area, and that was fine.
Question two was important for me, because not only do I get a lot of pleasure from watching Sky Sports, but I need it for my work.
The agent told me that he was “pretty sure” that there was cable in the area and that the current owners were watching it when I viewed the property and “didn’t I notice?” Can’t say I did, old chap.
I told the agent that “pretty sure” wasn’t good enough and would he be kind enough to check.
He called me back half an hour later and told me that he’d typed the postcode into the Virgin Media website and that all cable services were available.
On that basis, I made an offer, which was duly accepted.
A few days later I received a letter in the post confirming the offer, and for the first time I saw the postcode for myself.
I typed it into Virgin Media’s website ‘just to make sure’ and guess what? It’s a non-cable area.
The agent had blatantly lied through his teeth to try and get me to agree a sale.
I was livid, and read him the riot act down the phone (when, eventually, someone in the office actually bothered picking up the phone!).
I then told him straight that if there wasn’t a communal satellite dish, or I wasn’t allowed to put one up myself, the deal was off.
That was on Thursday. They didn’t return my phone call on Friday and no one in the office was picking up the phone the several times I called on Saturday.
Then, yesterday (Monday), I phoned the office. The same guy answered as on Thursday. Guess what? He was just about to return my call (yeah, right!).
Once he’d finished waffling, he broke the bad news- there wasn’t satellite TV and dishes weren’t allowed.
This, my friends, is the truncated version of events. The longer version makes David Brent seem efficient and professional.
The whole operation doesn’t seem to employ anyone over 30, or with a brain.
For me, it’s wasted a week of my life, a week where I could’ve been looking for alternative properties elsewhere.
I’m sure that’s true- it’s bad enough the stress of packing all your furniture and dealing with all the legal paperwork involved.
Yet surely the whole thing could be made so much easier if only estate agents behaved like normal human beings.
It seems pretty obvious to me that many estate agents pay their staff on a commission basis for every property they sell.
Quite a few, which are part of national chains, employ mostly younger people who are encouraged to bend the truth to get the sale, because it’s the only way they’ll be putting any bread on the table.
From the employer’s point of view, it’s not a bad way of getting around the minimum wage.
These factors are largely behind why estate agents have such a bad reputation with us mere mortals.
For those of you who don’t know me personally, let me explain why I’ve been in such a funny mood for the last week or so:
I’ve recently sold my house, and am looking to downsize to a decent flat in a reasonable area of Cardiff.
I found myself a decent flat in the Cardiff Bay area, but had two questions for the estate agent before I put an offer in.
1. How much is the ground rent/service charge?
2. Is it a cable area, or are satellite dishes allowed?
The answer to the first question was very reasonable for the area, and that was fine.
Question two was important for me, because not only do I get a lot of pleasure from watching Sky Sports, but I need it for my work.
The agent told me that he was “pretty sure” that there was cable in the area and that the current owners were watching it when I viewed the property and “didn’t I notice?” Can’t say I did, old chap.
I told the agent that “pretty sure” wasn’t good enough and would he be kind enough to check.
He called me back half an hour later and told me that he’d typed the postcode into the Virgin Media website and that all cable services were available.
On that basis, I made an offer, which was duly accepted.
A few days later I received a letter in the post confirming the offer, and for the first time I saw the postcode for myself.
I typed it into Virgin Media’s website ‘just to make sure’ and guess what? It’s a non-cable area.
The agent had blatantly lied through his teeth to try and get me to agree a sale.
I was livid, and read him the riot act down the phone (when, eventually, someone in the office actually bothered picking up the phone!).
I then told him straight that if there wasn’t a communal satellite dish, or I wasn’t allowed to put one up myself, the deal was off.
That was on Thursday. They didn’t return my phone call on Friday and no one in the office was picking up the phone the several times I called on Saturday.
Then, yesterday (Monday), I phoned the office. The same guy answered as on Thursday. Guess what? He was just about to return my call (yeah, right!).
Once he’d finished waffling, he broke the bad news- there wasn’t satellite TV and dishes weren’t allowed.
This, my friends, is the truncated version of events. The longer version makes David Brent seem efficient and professional.
The whole operation doesn’t seem to employ anyone over 30, or with a brain.
For me, it’s wasted a week of my life, a week where I could’ve been looking for alternative properties elsewhere.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Road Of Anger Leads To Nowhere
YES, yes, I’ve got the message. You’re angry.
“Tonight’s lead story on News at Ten is that another MP has been claiming thousands of pounds to get his swimming pool cleaned. And to show how angry you are, we’re going to send our reporter to vox pop you while you’re doing your shopping, just like we did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Yep, you’re still angry.”
They say that grief turns to anger, but what does anger lead to exactly?
Well, in the case of grief turning to anger, after, say, a car accident caused by somebody else’s careless driving, the grieving relatives eventually suppresses their emotions so they can pursue justice through the courts.
The equivalent in the ‘expenses scandal’ should surely be the European Parliamentary elections, which are now just nine days away.
You’re angry with the party you voted for last time, but the other lot aren’t any better, so what are you going to do now?
Ah, there’s always UKIP. A distant memory from five years ago might now sound like an attractive protest vote.
On the surface, it looks like an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You’ve never liked the European Union much, and the party’s reputation hasn’t been tarnished by this ‘expenses scandal’. Brillaint! Ah, time to think again.
Many of the 12 MEPs elected on the UKIP ticket in 2004 are as bad, if not worse than our spendthrift representatives in Westminster. A few quick examples; Ashley Mote MEP was sentenced to nine months in prison after being convicted of housing benefit fraud. Derek Clark MEP is currently being investigated by OLAF. Tom Wise MEP is due in court the day after the European election results are declared charged with false accounting and money laundering. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage MEP, openly admits to having made £2,000,000 in the last five years through the Brussels gravy train.
There are understandable reasons why the media aren’t exposing this. By making UKIP appear credible, they are helping to prevent a large swell in support for the ghastly BNP.
Mind you, the BNP are pretty easy to disgrace, just look up the criminal convictions of leader Nick Griffin and those near the top of the party.
They even had the nerve to use Sir Winston Churchill as a publicity tool, even though he has rightly gone down in history as the man who crushed a regime that had quite a lot in common with the BNP.
Where does all this leave us, the poor voter? Is there anywhere for us to turn? You have nine days to decide. Answers on a postcard, or at the comments section at the bottom, please.
MARCO Pierre White likes to say, “Never let your emotions affect your decisions.” Wise words from a wise man.
Yet that logic didn’t seem to extend to St James’ Park, where the decision to appoint Alan Shearer as manager as the team languished near the bottom of the league with only a handful of games to go must surely rank among the worst appointments in football management history.
Shearer was a great striker. We know. But that’s all it tells us. Normally in life, people get jobs because they are suitably qualified, or they are taken on as an apprentice and someone more experienced helps teach them the ropes.
With Newcastle United languishing near the bottom of the league, this was no time for taking a chance with a novice. If we bother to take emotion out of the equation, it was always likely to end in tears.
“Tonight’s lead story on News at Ten is that another MP has been claiming thousands of pounds to get his swimming pool cleaned. And to show how angry you are, we’re going to send our reporter to vox pop you while you’re doing your shopping, just like we did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Yep, you’re still angry.”
They say that grief turns to anger, but what does anger lead to exactly?
Well, in the case of grief turning to anger, after, say, a car accident caused by somebody else’s careless driving, the grieving relatives eventually suppresses their emotions so they can pursue justice through the courts.
The equivalent in the ‘expenses scandal’ should surely be the European Parliamentary elections, which are now just nine days away.
You’re angry with the party you voted for last time, but the other lot aren’t any better, so what are you going to do now?
Ah, there’s always UKIP. A distant memory from five years ago might now sound like an attractive protest vote.
On the surface, it looks like an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You’ve never liked the European Union much, and the party’s reputation hasn’t been tarnished by this ‘expenses scandal’. Brillaint! Ah, time to think again.
Many of the 12 MEPs elected on the UKIP ticket in 2004 are as bad, if not worse than our spendthrift representatives in Westminster. A few quick examples; Ashley Mote MEP was sentenced to nine months in prison after being convicted of housing benefit fraud. Derek Clark MEP is currently being investigated by OLAF. Tom Wise MEP is due in court the day after the European election results are declared charged with false accounting and money laundering. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage MEP, openly admits to having made £2,000,000 in the last five years through the Brussels gravy train.
There are understandable reasons why the media aren’t exposing this. By making UKIP appear credible, they are helping to prevent a large swell in support for the ghastly BNP.
Mind you, the BNP are pretty easy to disgrace, just look up the criminal convictions of leader Nick Griffin and those near the top of the party.
They even had the nerve to use Sir Winston Churchill as a publicity tool, even though he has rightly gone down in history as the man who crushed a regime that had quite a lot in common with the BNP.
Where does all this leave us, the poor voter? Is there anywhere for us to turn? You have nine days to decide. Answers on a postcard, or at the comments section at the bottom, please.
MARCO Pierre White likes to say, “Never let your emotions affect your decisions.” Wise words from a wise man.
Yet that logic didn’t seem to extend to St James’ Park, where the decision to appoint Alan Shearer as manager as the team languished near the bottom of the league with only a handful of games to go must surely rank among the worst appointments in football management history.
Shearer was a great striker. We know. But that’s all it tells us. Normally in life, people get jobs because they are suitably qualified, or they are taken on as an apprentice and someone more experienced helps teach them the ropes.
With Newcastle United languishing near the bottom of the league, this was no time for taking a chance with a novice. If we bother to take emotion out of the equation, it was always likely to end in tears.
