Poverty Corner and grannies - A whinge

Sometimes I can be a complete snob.









Sorry. But I can be. I dont mean to be. I think its something to do with my upbringing. (I'm the true heir to the throne of England you know*)




Anyway, I was reading on another journal about how people tend to swarm when they see or hear the words "FREE" and "FOOD" and gorge themselves silly. Anyway, it brought to mind a phenomenon in Supermarkets in Liverpool [I don't have that much experience of supermarkets out of the city I live in only because when I go away the last thing I want to do is grocery shopping, unless of course its at Waitrose but thats understandable]. So feel free to let me know if this is just a localised thing.




Anywotsits, in the supermarkets I've been to they tend to have two places, one in a chiller cabinet and one in an ordinary shelf where the supermarket tries to flog off its damaged or close to sell by date but still edible/usable stock for well below the price. You know what I mean it usually turns out to be something that you would never eat anyway like badger paté or kipper cordial or marmite or something.




Example:-




Pristene packets of sliced ham say £2.00 compared to dog eared, shiney slimey ham that someone got from the deli counter then left amongst the cereals for 10p




At certain times of day you can see swarms of pensioners, students and bargain hunters congregating around these parts of the supermarket awaiting the arrival of the next batch of soiled goods.




Now I'm not saying its a bad thing, it isn't, when I was unemployed I would battle my way through the throngs to get my crushed shortbread biscuits, I'm just pointing out what an amusing sight it is to see hordes of grannies fighting over unpleasant looking duck liver paté for 10p. It's as if all human decency and manners go out of the window as hair is pulled, groins are elbowed and toes trod on. I suppose after all we are all just animals in a base and primal way.




While Im on the subject of grannies. I dont know whether its the same in the states (you'll notice I have this fascination with cultural differences which one day I may expand on), but is it me or are pensioners today inconsiderate, rude and ill-mannered?




When I was a kid :-




Grannies :- Awww hasnt he got lovely curly hair. Awww bless. Have some sweeties!


Me :-
thankyou




Now:-




Grannies:- Out of the way!



Me:- oooof!




Pensioners today seem to be very rude, they push to the front of queues, hit you with their walking sticks, smell of wee and never smile. They never say "Thank you deary" anymore, nor do they ask "Would you like some sweeties?". They don't even have blue rinses, drink tea or bake biscuits.




Whereas pensioners less than 20 years ago were lovely sweet dears with blue hair. They would let you get on the bus first, (or at least offer to which you would politely say "No after you" and you would help them on the bus), they'd invite you in for cups of tea and biscuits, talk about the war and share tales of their youth (Normally starting with the immortal phrase "In my day..."). They would smell of lavender or brut 33, smile with big false teeth smiles and ruffle your curly hair (if you were as unfortunate as me to have curly hair).




When did it go wrong?? I used to hear the cry "Kids today!" but more and more so these days I hear "Pensioners today! They have no manners!!"




My grandparents taught me manners and how to be polite (along with my parents of course), my gran taught me to be the gentleman I am today (I still hold open doors for people of all ages though I tend to let them go in ungrateful peoples faces if they dont say thankyou) and my grandparents were lovely old people full of joy and spirit. Yet it appears that some of todays are being stripped of decency and being taught the ways of the world by rude, obnoxious, piss-smelling biddies.....is it no wonder theres few polite people in the world??....
















*= May not be true