Whataboutery and blame culture

[Catkins]

I've just splashed out on a new armchair and the cat has already claimed it as his, lol.
It's vintage so I'm expecting it to last at least 200 years.

They are buggers for that. Our dog chose her spot in the new sofa straight away! Fortunately because it is a bit bigger all three of us can now fit on it.

[Magic]

Just a reply to my message about the make of the TV and Tape recorder. They are both TOSHIBA. X

[Lencoboy]

Just a reply to my message about the make of the TV and Tape recorder. They are both TOSHIBA. X

Toshiba were historically a reputable brand, though not sure what they're like now as I haven't seen any new Toshiba-branded items for ages now.

[Lencoboy]

I've got a 20 year old car and an avocado bath and basin which are all still standing and working!

I've had to buy a new fridge/freezer as the last one packed up after 3 years (Hotpoint). I was advised not to get an automatic defrost one as the motor burns out really quickly so I opted for a Beko manual defrost f/f which I'm pleased with (fingers crossed!)

Things aren't made to last now or to repair. It's a disposable society now despite all the "green" hype.

It really astounds me that a lot of people still just seem to take this rip-off regime on the chin and simply accept shoddily designed and made items and also seem to shrug off poor standards in general as 'the way of the world', not forgetting the 'false economy' thing.

Even as late as 20 years ago whenever British factories closed down for good it was often met with mass outrage (even from non-employees) and heavily politicised, but nowadays a lot of us no longer seem to make such a big deal of such things, at least not in the same ways we used to.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It really astounds me that a lot of people still just seem to take this rip-off regime on the chin and simply accept shoddily designed and made items and also seem to shrug off poor standards in general as 'the way of the world', not forgetting the 'false economy' thing.

Even as late as 20 years ago whenever British factories closed down for good it was often met with mass outrage (even from non-employees) and heavily politicised, but nowadays a lot of us no longer seem to make such a big deal of such things, at least not in the same ways we used to.

It was the battle for British industry and the unions back then. Those days are over. But they get replaced with new causes I.e. look at all the strikes this year.

I've worked in complaints after 1990 and customer service a lot. People do still complain. We're in a world where industries publish complaint levels unlike back then when it was the news or word of mouth.

If you look for it you will always find complaints.

[Lencoboy]

It was the battle for British industry and the unions back then. Those days are over. But they get replaced with new causes I.e. look at all the strikes this year.

I've worked in complaints after 1990 and customer service a lot. People do still complain. We're in a world where industries publish complaint levels unlike back then when it was the news or word of mouth.

If you look for it you will always find complaints.

BIB #1: Twas ever thus to a certain extent and in the current context it seems to be a case of 'what goes around comes around', but ATM it seems to be more employees of public sector service organisations who are downing tools rather than factory workers (though I'm more than willing to be proved otherwise).

BIB #2 & 3: I guess it's the 'familiarity breeds contempt' syndrome to a certain extent. It also seems that many protests and demos that happen today no longer carry the same weight nor seem to have quite the same lasting impact that they once did (e.g, the 1984 Miners' Strike and the 1990 Poll Tax Riots to name in particular), as they seem to happen one day then seemingly forgotten about and 'water under the bridge' a week or two later, with most people and the news subsequently having moved on to the next 'big thing', whatever it may be.

[Lencoboy]

I know this is the latest of many of my random musings but today I've been thinking a lot about hypocrisy and the 'do as I say, not as I do' attitude among many in our society.

One case in particular is this one male staff member at my day centre, who is generally an OK bloke who I get on reasonably well with most of the time and he seems far removed from anyone with the typical rebellious 'I say/do what I like, stuff everyone else' kind of attitude, but fairly recently he has owned a mug for drinking out of at the day centre with the F-bomb clearly printed on it, and in full view of all the clients, and none of the other staff there have knowingly batted an eyelid over it. I haven't made an issue of it personally, but what I find jarring is that on the odd occasions I've heard other staff members there reprimand clients for uttering lesser swear words than the F and C-bombs (and certain other questionable/non-PC words/terms) that's hardly crime of the century, while as far as staff members are concerned, it's seemingly a 'free country'.

Another example has often been in schools (especially before the 2000s) where staff rooms would often be a fug of ciggy smoke and if pupils commented or complained the teachers/staff members in there would often tell them to 'hop it outside' and 'mind their own businesses', then later have the nerve to woe betide any pupil they copped smoking in the toilets, behind the bike shed, just outside the school gates, etc.

While I don't necessarily agree with other clients at my day centre openly swearing and being rude/disrespectful, nor school kids smoking underage, I can't abide by the apparent hypocritical, 'do as I say, not as I do' attitudes from staff members, whether in day centres, schools, you name it.

It also smacks of superiority among staff members and makes us clients (and also school kids in the past) often feel like lesser human beings, where staff members, parents, etc should ultimately be setting good examples.

ETA; Another example is kids being told that violence is wrong (which it most certainly is), but here in England (but no longer Scotland nor Wales), parents still have the legal right to smack them, which I also find just as hypocritical.