Is It Just Me: Wondering What The Fuss Is About Kim Sears Swearing?

If you’ve missed the headlines, the lovely fiancee of Andy Murray, Kim Sears was caught by the swing of a camera, swearing at his opponent during a heated match.

So what? I actually think the headlines this morning should be “Young, Attractive Woman Swears on camera”.

Seriously, have we got to the point of being back in a 1950s society where the women should be indoors, doing nothing more taxing than a bit of sewing and cooking her hubbies dinner?

Is it wrong to swear in the heat of a moment, as with Kim? No one is exactly sure of what she did say, but she did drop the f bomb at least twice.

She’s now facing a massive backlash, with people suggesting she should be banned from the crowd to even suggesting she needs a slap off her other half (oh yes, lets really push the boat out, a woman swears so lets solve it with a bit of domestic violence. Of course).

I say good for her. Why is it still fine to moan about us woman saying words that men say all the time and no one bats an eyelid?

I love a good curse in the right surroundings, in fact, there’s nothing better for when you’ve stood on the third piece of Lego of a morning to make the pain go away than shouting curses at said Lego.

In times of stress, I have been known to go to a quiet spot away from other folk and shout the F word very loud. You can keep your Valium, to me, shouting out an obscenity works for me every time.

Maybe its down to her being posh? Or what’s expected of a Wag? I’d rather someone with spirit to match her intended than a dead behind the eyes piece of fluff who is there on looks alone.

Andy himself is a typical Scotsman in that he is direct, and not shy of telling you how he feels, swearing and all. So why should Kim be any different?

I say, good for Kim, you tell them girl!

After all, she was only showing support.

Fuck ’em.

Is It Just Me: Who Thinks Yes, You Should be Invoiced If You Miss a Party

….With no good reason.

I couldn’t help but be quite surprised at the backlash the family involved in this story have received.  If you’ve not seen it yet,  what happened was that a child was invited to a party at a ski run. He then didn’t go- not down to illness, but because he decided to go to his Gran’s instead.

Which is fine.

Except instead of being entirely normal about it, and phoning the party’s hosts, they didn’t bother. In fact, they made no attempt to contact them. Thus, they received an invoice for the amount their child;s ticket cost.

Quite right to!

Anyone who has organised a kids party will know how stressful it is. It takes months to organise even if you just do a small shindig in the garden. There’s food to consider (and allergies/dietary requirements), party bags, bouncy castles the whole nine yards.

The invites are the biggest stress and parent’s of the invitees don’t help. First off, you have to hand them out via teachers so as those not invited don’t get upset (and if you don’t adopt this method, you are, frankly, mean). Then, you have to wait for the yays and nays. If you get 3 invites back you are lucky. So, you then try and track down Mums and Dads to check whether their child can come.

On the day, the stress doesn’t end until the last party bag is handed out and the mess is tidied. As usual, there are always kids who turn up who said no or never answered (in other words, their parent’s realise you can be a free babysitter for 2 hours of a Saturday evening and dump their kids last minute), and one’s who said yes and then never show up, never phone, nothing.

Its rude!

In the case of Mini’s party, our Gerbils died of Face Paint poisoning after being fed a set.

So, yes, when someone doesn’t show, doesn’t call, it is annoying. Of course, if you have organised an outside party, as with this family, you still have to cough up the cash should people not show up. Hence the invites in the first place.

I don’t buy the stories from the supposedly shocked parent’s that they couldn’t tell the hosts. For starters, they say that the Dad forgot he was taking their daughter to Grans for the day, but yet the boy’s mother surely could have taken him? Then you have the “didn’t know the phone number- well, that’s what Facebook is for isn’t it?

They then said that the Mother tried to find the hosts parent in the playground but missed her. Surely then, a note could’ve and should’ve been past to the teacher to go in the book bag?  Clearly they knew in advance the boy wasn’t going.

It sounds to me that they just didn’t bother.

That they then got a sealed envelope in the book bag- which the boy would not have been party to hence why he’d be upset- well, tough!

Why should the family pay for their bad manners?

Yes, its a bit far to suggest going to a small claims court, but it’s also a bit far going to the press to complain!

Apparently, lazy Mum has suddenly remembered that Facebook exists and messaged the, well within her rights, Mum. Perhaps she should’ve done that before messing the party hosts around!

If you book to take part, you have to pay. Simple.

Next time, show some manners and show up!

What’s your take? Have you had costly no shows or do you think its part of parenting paying out? Let me know in the comments 🙂

#JeSuisCharlie- Freedom of Speech and the Fear of Saying What You Feel in 2015

As longterm readers and friends know, I don’t tend to not voice an opinion, no matter how much shit I know it will generate if not held publicly and widespread by the majority.

I’m not just talking about blogging issues. I’ve given my views on politics, why I think Medway was bound to vote UKIP down to being a town populated by people told what to think by The Sun. I have voiced negativity about the behavior of the McCanns and how they were wrong to go away from their children for a drink.

I did touch on issues surrounding ISIS, in the respect that I don’t believe those who disappear over to fight with these Extremists should automatically and unquestionably be allowed to decide to return the second they miss their iPods and meals in Nandos. I made my feelings known on the Paedophile shame in Rotherham last year too.

However many times I have sparked debate, or disagreed with others, I have always without question called on my right to opinion. To freedom of speech and expression.

The horrifying, and so very needless deaths in Paris at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo go against everything the majority of us hold dear. The ability to make light of an ever more bloody situation brought on by religion. The ability to say what we feel via the medium of witty art.

They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but as more and more cases of extremism against social commentators, both threats and actions, occur, one is left with the fear that, should my posts, or posts of friends, or other media people offend someone in a supposedly peaceful religion according to their religious texts, do we too run the risk of freedom of speech equaling death?

I am proud that the people of France peacefully took to the streets with flags, holding pens aloft. No doubt though this will antagonise certain very mentally unbalanced people further.

I personally hate the idea of a world where a joke will end with violence. Fear of reprisal meaning art and opinion, the ability to spark debate, goes underground and hidden.

What do we do next? How do we claw back our freedom in a peaceful way, and can we? Do our Politicians have the answer? I fear this is doubtful, and that there is no longterm answer let alone a solution to bring about peace in all religions and races.

Let’s hope the light of debate, of art, and commentary never goes out for good, and long may freedom of speech and disagreement reign true.

Je Suis Charlie

La plume est plus puissante que l’epée