MOB rants - Page 9

GG - I too hoped this would be my last move.  I sold my previous flat for exactly the same reason - unobstructed views of open countryside were destroyed by somebody building a house in what had been garden.  When I moved here 5 years ago there was a large mature garden behind me, and one to the side.  Now there is building behind me as mentioned, and the house to the side has also obtained planning permission to pull down the existing bungalow and build another bungalow and a house on the one plot.  In this case though, the other neighbours have slapped a tree preservation order on some big cherry trees to protect their own outlook.  Thanks very much.  Though the trees are lovely, this just means that the new proposed house will be built about 20 feet away from mine, and staggered (ie not in line with my property) thus taking even more light from my garden.  Again, I have no right to light, only to not be overlooked.  Net result?  Big gable end of 2 storey property, with no windows, overshadowing my entire back garden.  If they go ahead with this development I shall be asking for advice on what I can plant in the dark!  Since my working days are almost over (or at least, I hope they are - state pension keeps getting further and further away) I dont have the option of moving again.  I'm just going to have to put up with it!   Aaaargh!!!!!

My rant today is about the "moue-moue" what on this earth is that all about.
At one time you shook hands with ladies and men or in my school days doffed my cap. Aunts got a kiss on the lips by demand "err" what in this PC world would they call that these days I wonder.
As time passed suddenly it was a kiss on the cheek (for the ladies not the men) that developed into the miss the cheek and kiss the air near lug hole.
That became miss cheek and kiss air near both lug holes and it has suddenly got to be left right left three when we only have two lug holes.
What does it mean why do people do it (I do not) and what is wrong with a hand shake, you get more germs off a supermarket trolley than you would off a hand shake.
I just hate the "moue-moue" rant over.

Frank.

That made me smile Frank and I have to agree.  I only kiss family and very close friends and never the double whammy.  When did it start I wonder?

G/G, I will be down in Bridgend for my St Davids Day Welsh cakes, fresh and warm with lovely freshly churned butter a real Welsh treat.
I come to the rant "is your brain in gear" this is was Frank posting.

Tina I would assume it is some London thing to do with artistry of some description, they do seem to have their own way of doing things, they who call the druids odd.
We Northerner's in our woad and goatskins must be just as big a mystery to them though, mind I do object to them calling us dirty, I change my goat skin every ten years whether it needs it or not.

Frank.

Ah, Frank.  I think we can blame this on the EU dont you?  Now there's a can of worms ...................

I think we can blame it on naive idealism on the part of some MPs who thought cheap housing would result and on the desire for profit on the part of others who hve investments in house building. Naivete and greed working together - a dangerous mixture. 

If I haven't said it already, happy St David's Day! Northerners and Celts have something in common, obviously - we both use woad to make ourselves beautiful. Must put my photo on sometime!

Frank, when I moved to the Fens from London, a local said to me, 'You can always tell a Londoner... but they never listen.' Yes, a lot of us Londoners do the 'air kiss', but only with some people; there are folks who have an invisible barrier around them with a notice saying,'Look but don't touch!'

Gardening Grandma wrote (see

If I haven't said it already, happy St David's Day! Northerners and Celts have something in common, obviously - we both use woad to make ourselves beautiful. Must put my photo on sometime!

 

G/G wrong end of the stick girl, we use woad to hide the beauty that would blind the normal mortals, we Vikings tall blonde and lovely and you Celts shorter dark and lovely have to keep it under wraps only exposing such loveliness to each other or so Nesta told me, is she to be believed I ask???
Probably to do with us being mining communities, you had to have a sense of fun and a joy for living or go under. My mining relatives told me straight, "if you try to go into mining we will tie you from the bottom of the cage by the testimonials (I think that is the word) and drop you to the bottom". Joining ICI I often had to go down the anhydrite mine, luckily in the cage and not hanging from it.

Frank.

Artjak I did spend a lot of time with my London relatives who came from up here originally and also much of my leave time with Londoners who were wonderful people never seeing any of that false bonhomie that one sees these days. It all seems facile to me, it certainly irritates me so I may be one with the iron curtain around me, it brings to mind the song, "kiss me once and kiss me twice and kiss me once again" why? one good smacker from me would be all they need on the lips of course and not some air gap around the lug holes all hairy and stuffed with wax.

Frank.

Frank, I can;t wait to see the photo of you in woad

And I do so agree with the moue moue thing!

I wonder if it is a class thing. I really agree that people in mining and other communities that had hard lives learnt to laugh and love because they needed courage and cheerfulness to face the difficulties of daily life and still get some satisfaction out of life. People who are more privileged can afford a few airs and graces and snobberies. The air kissing is pretty meaningless and pretentious. My father's greatest achievement was to get out of the mines and become a commercial traveller, staying in work throughout the depression. By contrast, my son went to Oxford, married a 'posh' girl and learnt to survive in a more privileged world - an art in itself for a working class boy.

Snap GG 

but not a commecial traveller and maybe a bit younger

Much younger I should think, Rosa. My father would be 104 now!

Enjoyed the story, Frank, and certainly agree with you about the dazzling good looks. Mind you, someone on another thread admired my 'gorgeous' dogs today but did not apply the same term to their owner!!! Please do not comment on this - you'd have to lie!

Now there is a word Class, working , upper, lower, sink estate what, and what does it mean.
People who have parents who can afford the uniforms books and kit after passing the 11+ or kids who had to leave school at 12-13 and pull themselves up by the boot straps, someone born with a silver spoon in the mouth or the idiot Son of Lord and lady so and so.
As Northener's we tend to ignore the word though there were those who would lower themselves when a Sir or Lady appeared and that was often in our village. Having parents who could afford to keep me in school and a very good idea where I was heading was my way ahead but did that mean we were above others to my mind not, you take your chances and risks with some luck some management it gets you a comfortable retirement end of rant.

Frank.

My dad would be 101 

And me only 29. Amazing!

Frank, if I were to rant about class, which is no longer supposed to matter, I'd talk about how unfairly it affects one's progress in life. Americans have a meritocracy, where you are judged on your achievements, especially money, but since there is no equal playing field and underprivileged kids have little chance of making it, they have not really eradicated class distinction. They have just created a new kind of class distinction. We are still hidebound by old distinctions. I taught kids who had no chance at all - bound in ignorance and poverty and abandoned by the educational system. Nothing serious was done to help them. They were in classrooms but did not know even basic things that parents teach their children. I taught one girl, perhaps the most deprived individual I have ever met, who was so physically and emotionally neglected that she only knew how to say 'Uh!' She was about 12 or 13. At the other end of the spectrum are the gently and beautifully brought up children of the upper middle classes who have all the social graces and the best education. There are other kinds of deprivation, of course, which apply to all classes, like emotional and sexual abuse. There! Rant over!

Me too.