I'm guessing you were all glued to Jerry Carbine's speech yesterday? Was it yesterday or years ago? No? Well there you go; once again it's proven I'm not often right and I'm wrong yet again.
Seems it was pretty much what was expected; if you've got nothing and can't be arsed trying to get something yourself, he'll make sure you get everything you want.
This philosophy reminded me of my start on life's rocky road. This is greatly simplified but I'm sure a lot of you will spot and remember the way it seemed to work way back in the day.
I left sea school and went to work on man's boats. After five years I'd pretty much been there, seen it and done that so quit.
After a couple or so weeks of doing nothing and freeloading at home, daddy 'suggested' I should get down to the dole office and see what the government would give me while I decided what to do. That I did and found I could collect, down at the office, something like two pounds ten shillings a week. This was about seven pounds a month less than my last wage on man's boat and I was quietly impressed. Hay, no thirty-six hour days to get that, just sign-on and hold your hand out once a week, right?
When I told my daddy how much 'free' money I'd get, he said, "That's good. So two pounds to your mum for board and keep and ten shillings for you to party hearty!" That kind o' knocked the edge off that, so what did I do then? For those of us not so bright lights on the educational Christmas tree, all we had was our labour to sell to the highest bidder but first find a job, any job, that paid more that two pounds ten shillings a week, and that is wot I done did do.
Did I like the job? Not really, but while I was working I was always looking. Looking for what? Basically, more money. And so it progressed. Find a job, do that job while looking for a better job with better rewards. Find it and, with luck, get it and move on; and the job I'd just left? It would be taken by the next guy coming along the conveyor belt.
What kept the conveyor belt running? Getting next to nothing for doing nothing is what kept it oiled.
I do realise the above is possibly too much of a simplification of where we were yesterday and where we are today, but…
Quote; A Foggy, Not A Quote.
About this time I was aquatinted with a guy who started his own window cleaning round. He did quite well and got several contracts for business premises one of which, interestingly, was the new dole and social security offices. He cunningly worked it so the day he did their windows was the same day he had to sign-on for his unemployment money thus alleviating the need for any additional travel. To the best of my knowledge he was never 'rumbled'.
2 comments:
In some ways Corbyn was smarter than both of us - he landed a very well paid job for life at a fairly early age. It's easy to have lots of principles when your salary is as secure as the Bank of England. More secure if he ever gets his hands on it.
A K Haart,
So true. An extremely well paid job deciding how to spend others money. I could do that. Not very well because I'm not very smart. However, it seems 'smart' isn't really a requirement for the job.
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