Meeting Another Child-free Person

Most people I work with know I'm child-free by choice as I am open about it if people ask.

There are a few people at work who don't have children, but most are single.  There are very very few people, like myself, in their late 30's, happily married and have no intention of having children and never have.

I was chatting to someone at work the other morning, when we were about to go home after a night shift.  In casual conversation, I asked, "Do you have children."  She said, "No, we never got around it it."  I asked her how old she was, she was the same age as me.  

I said to her, "We don't have children, either.  We don't want any." I am always honest.

I could almost see her eyes light up.

"Really?  Truth be told, we don't want any."

It was like the child-free flood-gates had opened.

She continued on about how she never wanted children, doesn't particularly like them and luckily has a partner who feels the same.  

As we walked to our cars, we chatted about how we loved our lives how they were.  How we loved our freedom, our lie-ins and our money.

We also discussed how society and people expect people, once they get married, to breed.  She explained how she avoids the "children" question, and that her family and people back home in her country (she's from the Philippines), are very child-centric.  I admired her for sticking to her beliefs and not breeding because other people expected her to.

This situation has happened a few times, when I've spoken to people who are around my age and don't have children.  At first people avoid the question until I am open and then they 'come-out'. Then it's a feeling of mutual joy and respect.

Honestly, what is the worst thing that could happen if we didn't breed?.....erm, nothing? 

We're not hurting anyone, we're not some right-wing intolerant religious nut-job. No wonder people don't often 'come-out' as child-free by choice judging by some people's reaction, so make excuses as to why they haven't had children.  Luckily, most people don't care if we have children or not, which is how I like it.  Many try to convert me to 'the other side' or question my motives, and I have also been accused of being 'militant' or a 'child-hater'  for daring to buck society's trend and having a mind of my own which doesn't revolve around breeding, and being open and honest about it.  How dare I have a mind of my own which isn't dictated to by my uterus?!  Some people who read this blog and others I have written would also accuse me of 'going-on' about it.  Well, I'll stop 'going-on' when you stop going on at me.

And NO, I don't worry I'll regret it.

Short blog: Is it better to be honest about being child-free?

Now I'm in my late 30's, I haven't been subjected to Child-free/breeder bingo in quite some time, but I am always prepared for it.
Children were the topic of conversation last night at work, and I was asked, "Do you ever want children?"
Now I'm always polite about it, after all, it is just conversation
"No, I'm not bothered."
"Why?"
I let out a barely audible sigh, thinking, "Here we go."
"Because I don't.  I'm not maternal."
"What does your husband think?"
"Same as me."

Then came the big-one.  The personal question that most people want to ask, but are afraid to.  Although it has happened a few times.
"What would you do if you got pregnant?"
I find this question slightly offensive, I mean, would I dare say anything about abortions to a Mum about her children?
Anyway, I replied, "Well, if you're going to ask such a personal question, I'd probably have an abortion."
Her, "Oh...." Then she looked down and started doing her paperwork again, changed the subject and started talking to someone else.

I've never had it yet, but I wonder if I'm ever going to get, "Have you ever had an abortion?"

Patronising the Child-Free: LIVE

I stumbled upon this video on youtube today. It's Lorraine Kelly on her show, interviewing Vicky, a child-free woman. I thought it might be an interesting interview about her choice. (I say 'choice' as that what it is).
They initially start to chat about Cameron Diaz being child-free by choice and how Diaz says that women don't 'come-out' saying they don't want children as they are afraid of being shunned by society.
Apart from the slight look of disdain from the start on the presenters face, I didn't have to wait long for the patronising remarks to start.

And there it is, 90 seconds in, Lorraine offers the little gem, "I wasn't particularly maternal until I was pregnant." Yawn!! Really? I've never heard that one before! And then, "You never know", with a patronising wink.

Then we quickly move onto speaking to the "Mum of 4", where Lorraine and a drab looking Mummy, Lucy, start to bleet on how lovely it all is being a yummy mummy etc etc. How it's a "fun, magical world". How you learn more patience and are less selfish.

OH, PLEASE! Give us a break! So, by default, I am more selfish because I don't conform and can make up my own mind?

But why do we need to interview a parent as well? Why does she need to be there? Do they need her there, just in case the child-free woman suddenly whips out a baby and starts eating it with a knife and fork? Because we all openly despise children, don't we, us child-free people.
Why can't we just hear from the child-free woman and her life, but no, we are treated to most of the interview being monopolised by two mum's who obviously think a woman's role is to become a breeding machine.

Then we get to Lucy, who says, "Having children is a common bond," and that when someone says they don't want children, she "automatically says why don't you want children?" and that she "wheels her children out........because they are missing out on something."

What problem does Lucy have with people who chose not to have children? And why does she feel the need to convert us? It's not as if there is a population crisis in the world, and that the human race is going to die out. More importantly, what business is it of hers? How would she feel if Vicky started to harass her about her decision? "Why did you have children? Do you ever regret it?" etc etc.

What could have been a good interview, turned into two women patronising another, with words and statements us child-free folk have all heard before from friends, family and colleagues.

Child-Free in a Nutshell

Sleepless nights. No money. No lie-ins. No 'me' time. No peace and quiet. No freedom. Screaming babies. Toddler tantrums. Nappies. Baby sick. Breast feeding. Weaning. Constant worrying. Expensive holidays at peak time. Babies on planes. Toddlers on planes. Allergies. Teenagers. Boyfriends. Girlfriends. Sex. No sex. Eating dinner far too early. Constant moaning. Constant complaining. Teenage tantrums. Bad behaviour. Constant interruptions. Rude children. Ingratitude. Paedophiles. Too many cars. Sensible car. Drugs. Teenage pregnancy. STD's. Expensive designer children's clothing. Constant demands. Carbon footprint. Overpopulation. Crap TV. Crap music. Postman Pat. Health of baby. Health of child. Accidents. You must do this. You must do that. Labour. Labour complications. Morning sickness. No soft cheeses, no rare meat, no shellfish. No wine. Pregnancy. Pregnancy complications. Episiotomies. Tearing. Pain. Sore nipples. Saggy tits. Saggy belly. Wrinkles. Arranging baby sitters. No spontaneity. Need a bigger house. Need a garden. Can't afford this. Can't afford that. Watch your language. Watch your behaviour. Worry. Worry. Worry. Bullying at school. School exams. University. Grandchildren. Babysitting grandchildren. Selfish children. Selfish adults. Still living at home at 25. Still living at home at 30. Death.

Militant Child-Free?

It's been a few weeks since I've been 'bingoed' about being child-free face to face. But it happens reasonably regularly on twitter, where I dare to retweet or post something about my personal choice.

I've been accused of many things, one of which is that I am "militant" about being child-free. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "militant" as an adjective means "favouring confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause".
Well, I'm not violent, nor would I regard myself as "confrontational". If you ask me in conversation if I have children, I say "no, we're child-free by choice". Some people are positive about it, saying "don't blame you" or words to that effect, some people couldn't care less. Unfortunately, many people start to assume a few things;

(a) That I hate children (b) That I hate parents (c) That I am militant or confrontational because I have the audacity to answer a question they asked, honestly.

I don't hate children and I don't hate parents. I do seriously dislike ill-behaved, noisey rude children and bad parenting, and I do hate nosey-parkers who then think it is their business to try and convert me.

I was accused of being confrontational by a follower on twitter a short while ago, because my status says "child-free by choice". This person then said that I deserved criticism because of it. When I replied saying that some people have "mum of 3 kids" on their profile, does this mean they are a "confrontational" or "militant"? Does they then deserve criticism because of it? What is the difference? Of course, no answer was forthcoming from my accuser.

There are some confrontational child-free people on twitter who I follow. These people verbally attack people who are parents, or attack people who use the hash tag #childfree. Personally, I use the hashtag and there are always interesting comments there and some interesting links to articles and blogs. But I couldn't care less who uses it, I get more irritated by tweeters who think the hashtag is their property and waste the timeline to tell everyone or argue about it. It's just a hashtag people. As for the trolls; I wish people would just ignore them.

I can see why people become militant or confrontational about being child-free. People do think it's their business to tell you how WRONG you are not to have children, that you're a freak, not a 'real' woman, that 'children complete you' and that you'll regret it, that you're biological clock is ticking, that you'll 'change your mind'. They ask 'who will look after you when you're old?' , 'why did you get married?', 'what about your husband, what does he think?' and I've even been asked (on more than one occasion), "What would you do if you actually got pregnant?" Yes it actually does get that personal.

When this kind of verbal abuse goes on for year on year, I can see why people get defensive about it - I know I do sometimes. I used to avoid the questions, now I just tell people honestly. Well, if they're going to ask personal questions, they get an honest answer. If they don't like it, they'll just have to lump it.
Now I'm in my late-30's, people seem to be badgering me a lot less, as if they've finally got the message that I'm not going to change my mind. It still happens from time to time and you can guarantee, they'll not say anything I haven't heard before. Now I get accused of "going on about it" if I dare mention it in conversation or if I answer honestly. Luckily, most of the time, people don't mention it, and that's the way I like it. After all, being child-free is my default setting.

It seems sometimes, that I cannot win, but at least I get to have a long lie-in at the weekend.

Short Story of the Day: New Present for the Newly Weds - A Palace All of Their Own!

After we paid millions for their wedding; the happy couple, William & Kate now get to chose a mega-palace of their own, also paid for by the tax-payer, with it's own set of staff.

"We want THAT one!" They both said, opting for Kensington Palace as their "base". Being used to the best for doing very little real work, as was Wills birth right, one palace isn't obviously enough, this will only be their base.

"Oh, but it's in such a state of disrepair." said Wills.

"Don't worry." said the Queen, "Granny won't expect you to stay in a grotty place like the peasants do. Even though I am one of the richest people in the world, I'll allocate some of the tax payers money that could be used for the NHS to repair it for you! After all, we don't use the NHS. Economic crisis? What economic crisis?"

"Good idea, Granny." They both said, "In the mean time, we can take several holidays they can also pay for, because the stress of choosing a palace has been over-whelming.....but won't the peasants get a bit fed-up of us?"

"They may start to," said the Queen, "But there is something you can do."

"What is it Granny?"

"Well, there you know you're most important role, Kate?"

"Yes, Granny, " began Kate, "It's shaking the hands of important people AND peasants. I have to remember it's very hard, very important work, so I have to be well paid for it."

"No, that's not the most important job."

Kate thought some more, "I have to con people into thinking I'm a courageous lady by doing two hours work of cuddling babies a year and patronise their parents. I have to remember that people will compare me to Saint Diana."

"No."

Then Kate suddenly remembered, and Will spoke for her, "In the next few months, just as people start to get bored with us, your role begins."

Kate started to jump up and down with glee, "Oh yes, I'm to become the newest Royal Breeding Machine!" she exclaimed with joy.

"Yes," said the Queen with a grin, "With only 7 billion people on the planet, what the world and this country needs is another Consumer. Not your average consumer, but a very special consumer whose carbon footprint we don't even have bother trying to off-set! One that does absolutely nothing except go on holiday in it's own private jet!"

"Hurrah!" They all cried.

"There is one thing, " the Queen said, "If it's not a boy, you can fuck off."

I even made a short, amusing cartoon about it.

Generic Bland Pop, Westlife, Reality Checks and Amusing Tweets

Today we had the great news that Westlife had split up. Yes, a small victory for the war against dull generic bland pop is being celebrated.
If you're reading this, and you're a devastated fan, give yourself a slap around the face and get over it. You've got all their back catalogue and twenty "best of" albums to bore yourself to death with. As Oscar Wilde said, Westlife were, "Both original and good. Unfortunately, the original stuff wasn't good and the good stuff wasn't original." And that's putting it mildly. Yes, they were popular; but so is malaria.
To be fair to Westlife, they aren't the only band (and when I say "band", it is a loose term, as they didn't exactly play any instruments, so I prefer the term "group") who are dull. The charts are dominated by bland, generic pop. But I suppose Westlife could sing a bit, but as that was what they were - a group of singers - I would hope they could. So in a very real term, they were Kings of Bland. And apparently, they mimed anyway, which in my opinion is a real insult to their fans when they can't even be bothered to sing.

Twitter, as per usual, is full of devastated fans. I actually started to read the hashtag line, and couldn't believe how many adults are reacting to this as if it's a world disaster. Personally, I think anyone over the age of 16 and is "devastated" needs to give themselves a slap in the face and a reality check. I just wish demented fans would react to world hunger, war and other real problems the world faces with such gusto. I can sort-of understand why children liked them and are upset, but adults? Come on! Get over it.
But who cares about kids in Africa starving to death? Westlife have split up!!

The one saving grace is that it has led me to amusing 'tweets' and to compile ones of my own.

A couple of tweets of the day include:

@ShaneSaunders88 James Blunt, Britney Spears and #Westlife are on a sinking ship. Who gets saved? The world of music.

@wilhanafin #westlife make statement about splitting up. One of them read the statement, two of them mimed it & the other guy just looked bewildered.

@theCookra Today just got better, #westlife are splitting up! Make sure you do this right fella's don't follow take that's example.

Child-free men - well they just need a good talking to!

After making the conscious decision many years ago that I didn't want children, I think I've had all the questions, remarks and insults one can possible get for the past fifteen years or so. Or to those who have never heard the term: child-free or breeder bingo (see figure below).


But in all this, we have to remember men have to contend with breeder bingo too. Whether they 'get it' more or not, I don't know; but the child-free men out there certainly are on the receiving end of it on a regular basis; as my other half will testify.
Women and men also get patronised to by various "Mummy" or "Breeder" articles as I like to think of them. As this kindly web page tells us: http://okfreedate.com/m/articles/view/childfree

The article starts by flippantly labelling the child-free movement as, I quote: "a new fangled-trend", as if my being this way was a phase I was going through. It also explains how a woman can coerce - sorry - "find out the reasons for his sturdy resistance".

The article basically goes on to basically undermine, patronise and condescend both men and women.
It stereotypes women as something that, I quote, "Want to embrace a crying child" and "Have maternal instincts that unwittingly arise". Well I want a crying child to shut the fuck up and I've never had maternal feelings.
The article also stereo-types men as just insecure boys who are afraid of having children. The article then tells women how to address the issues and that men just need a good talking to.

Whilst insecurities and fear might be the case for some men, the article does not once acknowledge that many men don't actually want children. Not now, not ever. Not because they are "afraid", but because they actually just don't to have children. No, men are all conveniently put into one box and it does not once give a man any credit for thinking for himself and thinking for more than a second about whether ot not to breed.
The article doesn't, at any point ever explain how wrong it is for his partner to coerce him into it. Nor that it's not right for anyone - family, society, friends - to coerce him.

Sadly, there are many articles like this - as are some women - who don't acknowledge that not everyone wants to breed, that not everyone wants to produce another consumer of the world's vastly dwindling resources.

Whilst there are many caring fathers out there, who love being a dad and wanted to be a dad; I also suspect that there are millions of men out there who have caved in to pressure from their partners who have coerced them, or from family and society's expectations, who have had children - and now regret it, or at least if they had their time over again, would not make the same decision.

One other thing that irritated me about this ill-informed article, was that is said how wonderful parenthood was, and if it wasn't, "the childfree movement would have numbered millions of volunteers". Message to the author of the article: we do have millions.

My Letter to the Family of Troy Davis

To the Family of Troy Davis,

We have been following Troy's case for a number of years now; and although we never met him, we do feel we got to know him, even though he didn't know us personally.
The torture for Troy and yourselves over the years must have been horrendous at times, yet throughout the years that you have been fighting for justice, you have all been dignified and courageous.

Over the last week or so especially, our hearts have been in pieces. I cannot imagine how Troy and yourselves have been feeling.

Yesterday, our hearts were broken.

The only small shred of comfort we feel throughout this travesty of justice, is that we know Troy died knowing he was going to a better place. A place where he is free from hate and free from injustice.

I know you will miss him so much, and that you are heart-broken, but I also know you have faith that you will all be together again, someday.

Our thoughts are with you at this time.

God Bless You All.
We are Troy Davis.

love from
Jackie and David Crossley
Leeds, England.




If you wish to send a message of support to Troy's Family, you can do it here: http://bit.ly/nlq0PT via Amnesty International

Troy Davis: the lynchings have never gone away. But tonight, it's behind a legal face.

The lynchings have never stopped, it is alive and well in the state of Georgia, America.

I have always been against the death penalty; it is wrong all the time, every time. It is the worst form of pre-meditated murder. It is abhorrent for dozens of different reasons; too many to talk about. It's state sponsored revenge of the worst kind and is used disproportionately on people of colour and the poor. And has also been used on the innocent many times.
Troy Davis is one of them. Troy Davis is to be killed, for a crime he is highly likely not to have committed, at midnight tonight, UK time.

Troy Davis was convicted 20 years ago for killing a police man and was sentenced to death.

Of the nine witnesses; seven have now modified or retracted their testimony, three of those have said they were coerced by police to name Davis as the murderer. Four of the witnesses have admitted lying in court. The murder weapon was never found, and there was NO physical evidence; such as DNA, to link Davis to the murder. One of the jurors in the original case has even come forward and said that if he knew what he knew now, he would have found Troy innocent.
The case has nothing to rest on. Nothing. Under a civilised justice system, there is nothing to convict him, nevermind executing him.

I have followed Troy's case for a number of years now and I had a bad feeling this week that the pleas for clemency would be rejected. I was sadly proved right. I wish I wasn't. Troy, his family and thousands upon thousands of supporters world-wide have been campaigning for years. But Georgia just wants this nigger off their back. His family & supporters - as far as Georgia is concerned - will go away once they murder him.

How can any human being sleep at night when they have the power of life or death? That is what the parole board have. How can they say, "This person deserves to die"?......no sorry, it's more like "This innocent person deserves to be tortured for 20 years, than suffer the worst kind of pre-meditated murder."

Yes, it's torture. Being made to wait as your life hangs in the balance at the hands of fucking rednecks IS torture. Being made to wait whilst they decide whether to murder you or not, is torture.

How can President Obama sit and allow this to happen? He is the most powerful man in the world and has the power to stop this. He is a black man, he knows the injustices that happen to people of colour. But he sits by and does nothing. He has blood on his hands, just like the executioner does, like the Georgia parole board has. The same as the real murderer of the policeman has. They are no different, it just has the face of the law behind it.

I think this song and video sums this up. Billie Holiday: Stange Fruit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

Having a Baby to "Save Your Marriage".....oppps

Seems to be a popular thing amongst idiots: Having a baby to "save your marriage".

It certainly seems to be popular amongst the celebs of this world, namely the stupid ones. The ones who haven't been in the press for five minutes and who are generally famous for doing nothing else but being famous. Beyonce announced that she's having a baby "to save her marriage" and Cheryl Cole considered it. Both Jordon and Kerry Katona did it - so obviously if they both did it, it must work!...........oh yeah.
And why is it mostly the women who decide or agree to this when they are usually the ones married to the winner of "Mr Dumb Fuckwitt of the Year", "Mr Can't Keep His Cock in his Trousers" and "Mr Inconsiderate Selfish Pig" awards.

But just because something is popular, doesn't make it sensible.

Okay, I'm going to be bias on the whole breeding thing; ie in the way that I'm never going to do it. But how does a baby save a marriage? Any couple will tell you (and lets face it, "the baby" is all they can talk about, yawn); the stress on a couple goes up a million when they have a baby. You don't ever sleep again, and this isn't for a few weeks, this is for years. You're too exhausted for sex, you're always too worried and unless you're a celeb, you have no money. And this is just the start of it. You argue about everything from "the best way to raise a child" to "who gave Little Johnny those ears?"

So I ask again; how does being constantly exhausted, frequent arguments and being constantly worried and having no sex help an already troubled marriage? Consider this, Fuckwitt Celeb; you're married to Other Fuckwitt Celeb Who Can't Keep his Cock in his Trousers. Chances are, if he is a lazy, mean, sex-mad wanker who treats you like a doormatt; he's not going to suddenly wake up a day later as Dad of the Year.

Divorces post-baby sky-rocket. So what makes you think your already crap marriage is going to be suddenly lovey-duvey days away in the Land of Happy?

So if you even think it, I advise strongly to not even consider it. Unfortunately, the stupid seem to be able to breed easier.

Not only that, if your marriage isn't exactly a bed of roses, you'll be probably subjecting a lot of pressure on Little Johnny Marriage-Saver; and subjecting the poor brat to constant arguments and shouting; followed by a nasty divorce where the child is used as a weapon, and his constatly hoisted from one house to another, from one bitter parent to another. Great start in life for Poor Little Johnny Marriage-Saver, sorry Breaker.

Terrible Chain-FaceBook Statuses and Why I Hate Them

A friend on Facebook's status update from the other day. It's probably the most patronising comment I have ever read. This is copied and pasted, so I am not responsible for the poor grammar.

"Whatever you give a WOMAN she will make it GREATER. Giver her SPERM she will give you a BABY. Give her a HOUSE she will give you a HOME. Give her GROCERIES, she will give you a MEAL. Give her your LOVE and she will give you her HEART. She MULTIPLIES and ENLARGES what she is given. so if you GIVE her CRAP, be PREPARED to RECEIVE a ton of SHIT! I hope to see every girl on my friends list repost this (only the brave will)!"

I find this update tedious at best; at worst, they are condescending, patronising and stereo-typing. Being a gob-shite, I didn't let this one lie. I stated what I said above, plus, I replied;

"Pass the sick bucket. I find the whole thing patronising to both women and men, and terribly stereo-typing...........plus, I don't want any f**king sperm as I don't want children!"

It was sad and awful how many women 'liked' her status. Needless to say, I have no reply from her regards my post, but plenty of responses from grateful men that we all don't think like that!

Baby Wash and a letter to Hotpoint

Dear Hotpoint,

I recently purchased a new washing machine, which was delivered and fitted yesterday. I noticed upon examining the front of the washing machine, there was a setting labelled "Baby Wash". Being child-free, I felt disappointed that I would not be able to utilise this setting and thus not be using said washing machine to it's full potential.

Nevertheless, undeterred, I did actually find a baby. Said child was quite willingly offered to me for the evening from exhausted parents who wished some 'time-out'. Being the kind soul that I am, I thought I would wash said baby before putting him to bed; doing the parents a favour as well as being able to test the new setting on the washing machine.

However, before putting said baby into washing machine, the parents arrived back early. They were incredibly alarmed at what I was proposing, and rather urgently, explained to me that the "baby setting" was not, in fact, for cleaning babies. Despite my claims that the baby did not exceed the 6kg maximum load, they went on to explain the terrible consequences of what may have happened if I had proceeded to enter the baby into a a spin cycle.
Shocked and ashamed, I read through your instruction manual, but could find no warning, nor indeed any reference to the dangers of putting a less-than 6kg baby on a "baby wash" setting. Nor did it state, "Babies must not be placed in washing machine on 'baby wash' cycle".

I write to you in concern that other persons may not be so lucky as I, and upon washing a less than 6kg baby on 'baby wash', may inadvertently end up with a washing machine that, due to a slight misunderstanding, invalidate their guarantee.

May I suggest some sort of large warning be placed in the instruction manual and maybe relabelling the title 'baby wash' or some sort of warning triangle to alert the user to potential hazards.

Yours faithfully

Childfree and smiling at squirrels.

I was in Golden Acre Park during the week. In the last few months, I have been getting back into photography, and was taking some pictures of various wild life. It was lovely and peaceful and the birds were singing and there were about four or five grey squirrels scurrying about, enjoying the spring.
The peace was interrupted by a child screaming at the top of it's voice. I turned around to see a woman, with three children who were all creating in some different way. I recognised her as she came over for a chat, joined by her friend who also had three creating kids with her. We had a chat for a short while whilst one brat kept wandering off (despite going missing five minutes earlier), another continued to scream, whilst the other four competed with each other trying to vie for attention, whilst their mothers had the audacity to not be paying them attention 100% of the time, by constantly pulling on their Mum's arms and shouting "Mum, mum, mum!" (to which when I was a kid would have resulted in a stern word not to interrupt whilst adults were talking).

After only a couple of minutes, I could feel my tension rise, and my brain was hurting from the screaming. Mum's & children and myself then departed in opposite directions.
They went walking off trying to control six children between them, and I went off to regain some composure and peace.

As the screaming got quieter as the distance got further, I was alone with my thoughts as I smiled at the lovely colour and scent of the flowers and the playing squirrels. I had been confronted by my idea of hell. Now I have to be careful how I put this without sounding smug or without sounding like I'm looking down my nose at people, after all, if you want children, it's your life. But it reaffirmed with a bang how I could never live like that and how this would be a nightmare life for me. I have never wanted children, and luckily, neither does my husband, but imagine if I had somehow been pressurised into having children. I would face my hell, 24/7. A life where I couldn't just walk away from the screaming child. A life which didn't revolve around dependent beings.
A life where I couldn't drop everything and spend a day to myself, smelling the flowers, appreciating colour and smiling at squirrels.

Dear High St Clothes Designer

Dear *insert high st clothes shop here*

I am of average height, with an average size inside leg, and a UK size 12 to 14. My waist line is NOT directly under my breasts, nor is my waist the same measurement as my hips. I have something what affects 50% of the population, called "curves".

Please remember this when designing your clothes and this will remind us that we are normal and that our curves are something we should accentuate and not hide behind baggy, unflattering clothes. We won't have to then try on 15 different things before we find something that actually fits and flatters us, instead of something that was made for someone who is 5 ft 10 with no breasts or hips with a 34 inch inside leg; ie: a boy.

Yours sincerely,



Jackie
(A woman who actually has a great hour-glass figure, has a big round arse, big boobs and likes it)

My Short Thought of the Day: Friday 11th February 2011

Now that Egypt's leader, President Mubarak has finally gone, this should send a message to the people of the world and the leaders and governments of the world:


The Government should fear of the people, the people should not be afraid of the Government.



Or as Thomas Jefferson said;



"When the People Fear their Government, there is Tyranny;
When the Government Fear the People, there is Liberty."

Leaders of the world should remember this as they slowly erode our civil liberties and destroy our public services. You can only push us so far.

Life's too short to drink cheap wine.

Life's too short to drink cheap wine and the bare minimum I would ever spend on a bottle of wine is £6 or £7. Less than that, and the wine is likely to be of poor quality. Now this might sound snobbery, but does has some basis in logic when you work out the cost of import duty.

The actual cost of import duty on wine and other alcohol, isn't worked out by their price, but on the percentage alcohol. Thus, wine has a cheaper duty than a spirit, (and is also the reason why imported perfume is expensive).

Now, I originally had a nicely written blog about the breakdown of costs on an average bottle of wine, but Majestic have already written a blog about it, which explains the system much better than I.

http://blog.majestic.co.uk/2008/02/19/the-price-of-wine/

So just remember the next time you buy a bottle of wine that spending just a small amount more should get you a much better bottle of wine.

My Short Thought of the Day: Monday 7th February

Why does anyone who starts the sentence with, "I'm not a racist, but..." or "It's political correctness gone mad..." always finish their obviously profound statement with something either racist, misogynistic, derogatory, homophobic, ignorant, totally false or a generalisation?

A great example: The CuntFather of the above, Richard Littlejohn.

My Short Thought of the Day: Sunday 6th February

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

In the 90's Warner Bros. cartoon "Animaniacs", the characters Pinky and The Brain are described: "One is a genius, the other's insane." To be quite honest, they both talk and plot to take over the earth. Just because Pinky says "narf" occasionally, and his vocabulary isn't as diverse as Brain's, doesn't make him less than a genius in mouse terms. In mouse-brain terms, I would in fact, label them both off the scale. I would further add that the constant plotting to take over the world would make them both insane.

If We Could Shrink The World

Some readers may have seen this before. I really liked this when I first read it as it brings important facts about the world into stark reality and something everyone can understand. If you think it's overly sentimental or "6th Form-ish", I make no apologies. It is probably over-simplified. But it makes interesting reading and should make you think.

This is official research, and was done in 2001, so may be a little outdated, but I don't think things have really improved or changed much over the last 10 years.

If we could shrink the worlds population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like this:

There would be:

57 Asians,

21 Europeans

14 from the Western hemisphere, both North and South

8 Africans.

52 would be female

48 would be male.

70 would be non white

30 would be white.

70 would be non Christian

30 would be Christian.

89 would be heterosexual

11 would be homosexual

6 people would posses 59% of the entire world’s wealth and all 6 would be from the USA.

80 Would be living in substandard housing.

70 Would be unable to read.

50 Would suffer from malnutrition.

1 Would be near death and 1 would be near birth.

1 Would have a college education

4 Would own a computer.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

The following is also something to ponder…..

If you woke one up this morning with more health than illness……you are more blessed than 1 million who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle,the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…..you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a Church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death……..you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator,clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep…….you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish some where……..you are amongst the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married you are very rare even in the UK, USA and Canada.

If you can read this message,you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you and furthermore you are more blessed than over 2 billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Someone once said :”What goes around comes around”

Work like you don’t need the money.

Love like you have never been hurt.

Dance like nobody’s watching.

Sing like nobody’s listening.

Live like it’s Heaven on earth.

One can never be sure of the hard numbers one thing is for sure we all very lucky to be where we are and who we are!

This database can be seen in numerous other blogs and internet searches across the world, and I apologise if I have broken any one's copyright.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census International Data Base, Various UN Departments and UNICEF.

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