What I'm not saying out loud in 2021 (IWLTS)

[Loralei]

Is that even legal?!

[Rosa]

That's outrageous!

[Leap]

Beena! I hope there is a very strong “think on” coming to her for that.

The ballet school mine go to is very much of the relaxed variety - they don’t even have to take exams if they don’t want to, and will move up a grade with their friends/ age group when the others take the exam. No competitions or fancy stage shows either. The lady who runs it must be doing something right though, as she’s had a couple of girls get into the London Children’s Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.

This sounds totally perfect. I always enjoyed clubs up until the point it turned to exams and achieving levels, and then ended up quitting because there seemed no other option. I always did well at school and proper exams etc, but at clubs it felt like too much.

[Texaco Shirley]

IWLTS 4 lines not 4 paragraphs! It’s all very well saying feel free to edit but if I had time for that I could have gone straight to IMDB.

[Beena]

Sorry, I didn't mean to post and run. It's been a long day.

It's all sorted now (I think), but there's a lack of formality that I genuinely struggle with. It's endemic in the organisation and having come from somewhere that was so rigid, I spend most of every day thinking WTAF.

With the holidays, I think there was an assumption that there was no need to approve them as we'd want to be off together, which is true BUT it's the fact that we're treated as a couple and not individual employees. I shouldn't be finding out that the dates for my project have shifted from a text to my husband. There's too much of that going on; we're not interchangeable.

[Pippedydeadeye]

That’s totally unacceptable Beena! I’d be thinking of involving the union.

[Beena]

I've said a more sanitised version of my post and J is very aware of my feelings, poor bloke. We'll see.

[sally maclennane]

IWLTS: I have no doubt that you'd help anyone out yourself but are all your FB posts a request for help?

A friend of a friend lives overseas and every other post is asking for favours. It's often "is anyone travelling from X country back to the UK? If so, could you take a parcel for me?" because she's too tight to post them, I assume Her latest is about them getting new fencing and if anyone can help with installing it, could they let her know their availability?? Along with a screenshot of a calendar with her preferred days

Its like something I'd send out in work - except people there are paid to respond to such requests!

[smalex]

It was nice when I was young and people helped each other out moving or repainting or whatever, but it *really* grinds my gears when grown adults capable of paying ask for favours when they could pay a professional. ANd asking their whole FB audience, as if the woman you worked with 5yrs ago or your cousin's ex boyfriend might be just dying to install a fence

[Tabitha]

Absolutely. A popular one around here is asking if anyone with a van would pick up a sofa for petrol money and a pint - as if!

[Flora Poste]

A friend of a friend lives overseas and every other post is asking for favours. It's often "is anyone travelling from X country back to the UK? If so, could you take a parcel for me?" because she's too tight to post them, I assume

Mr P's aunt does things like this. I get that postage from NZ is expensive, but we once had some poor random drop a present round to us from her, that I swear must have cost them more in travel and time than the postage would have been. She's very much of the school that is someone happens to be in London, then it'll be not bother for them to schlep out to the arse end of Zone 3 with something she wants sent over.

[Bat Macdui]

Christ, have they not seen the cost of a man with a van? It was £60 just to get my old bed to my sister's. 5 miles and max half an hour all told.

[Kleio]

I don’t mind the van requests as it doesn’t always make sense to hire one if it’s just a big car that’s needed.

I’ve got a Zafira so if I lay all the seats down I can fit plenty in and have happily done favours for friends who need things transporting.

I have a friend with a van helping me pick up garden furniture after dinner this evening.

[lazzbo]

Yes, I'm happy to help friends with that, but not randomers on Facebook groups.

[sally maclennane]

A friend of a friend lives overseas and every other post is asking for favours. It's often "is anyone travelling from X country back to the UK? If so, could you take a parcel for me?" because she's too tight to post them, I assume

Mr P's aunt does things like this. I get that postage from NZ is expensive, but we once had some poor random drop a present round to us from her, that I swear must have cost them more in travel and time than the postage would have been. She's very much of the school that is someone happens to be in London, then it'll be not bother for them to schlep out to the arse end of Zone 3 with something she wants sent over.

Just as well London is a small city isn't it?

[ParisGal]

I was just thinking about this sort of thing - I think for some people they're happy to have a lot of their social contact be in getting things done, rather than just leisure. So everyone gets together at Jane & Bob's every weekend for a month to help build their extension, then a couple of weeks later it's a full Saturday at Darren & Kate's roofing their shed, then everyone spends a Sunday painting Liz & Bob's front room and garden wall. Men do the DIY work, women do some light DIY and look after the kids and do the catering. We were watching a program about people doing self-build houses, and one young couple had their parents, an uncle & aunt, and at least 5 friends their own age who were spending full days helping them build their house, just being fed and watered in return.

In my social circle you could just about hope for some help during a move (and equally I'd not be up for massively helping others with this sort of stuff).

[smalex]

Don't get me wrong, I'd help a friend out, eg., a couple of years ago I helped move boxes for a friend for a few hours after they were inconveniently given notice by their landlord and had to move, she'd asked on our (close) friendship group whatsapp feed if anyone could lend a hand and I was happy to do it. But I think that's a world away from fancying a nice shiny new fence and thinking it's worth addressing a (presumably) wide audience on FB for help.


i've seen that sort of thing on Grand Designs where people have friends willing to help out for protracted amounts of time and all I've ever thought is I'm definitely not a good enough friend to anyone to volunteer for that

[Derek Nimmo]

IWLTS This is rubbish.

Over a year into Covid, and after a first disastrous attempt at a 'wellness seminar' last Spring, I am on a fully-mandated company-wide call with an external "Wellness Expert". She is no more qualified than I am to do this, and is currently telling us that it might be beneficial to only read news occasionally, and to block people on social media. I feel like a new woman :woteva:

Honestly - give us all an occasional mental health day, give us access to confidential counselling if we want it (and free time off to attend), gift us a free meditation app....it's not bloody difficult, anything than this load of old balls.

[Derek Nimmo]

Also, she can't spell 'loneliness'

[Tabitha]

Honestly, it's money for old rope innit? It reminds me of a workstation assessment I had back in the day, when the assessor advised me to blink to keep my eyes lubricated.