More revolting French!

[Bassman]

I well remember getting told off by a policeman for riding my bike on the pavement and I don't recall abusing him more hanging my head in shame and never doing it again [:$]

 

I have a friend that is a teacher and he told one of the girls in his class to put a cover on one of her books as she had doodled and scribbled all over it... next thing he knows is her mother is phoning the school accusing him of victimising her daughter[8-)][blink]

[Cerise]

I was born in 1950s - I can remember end of it and would I want to go back there - no way.  Our house was cold, the kids in my class smelled 'cos they didn't wash that often (my mum was considered posh because we had clean knickers every day), my mother had to wash things in a boiler and put through mangle etc, all she ever seemed to do was housework and my granny (who was the same age I am now) was an old lady with grey hair.  The last is not just my childhood imagination but borne out by looking at the photos of the time.  As children everyone had chilblains and thought it was normal.

My dad also points out that a large number of nice working chaps regularly thumped their wives and kids after a session down the pub on a Friday and although people tutted it wasn't really considered criminal.  No, people didn't get divorced because if you were a woman you couldn't get a loan or a mortgage so financially you could not afford to leave how ever awful the conditions.  My mother had to leave her job in 1952 for the heinous 'crime' of being a married woman!

My own life then was nice - I had a great family - but my parents now 77 and 80 don't really think things were better.  Yes, mum made jam and cakes, but she still does and so do I - however that is not my only choice of lifestyle.

Gluestick you are right no era is perfect, but I for one wouldn't want to return to those times and certainly wouldn't consider it an attractive criteria for living in another country.

Maggi

[Gluestick]

When I bought my first motorbike  - 1957/8 - (A 125 c.c. BSA Bantam) which was then my pride and joy, one year later on, I gave one of the more attractive lasses from the youth club a lift home- naughty as I still had "L" plates on.........................

The copper who chased me and stopped me gave me a real BO*******G! Not only for acting illegally, but as the young lady was not wearing a helmet! My main concern, since it was 10.00PM, was he and his observer calling at my house to see my docs. It would wake my Mum and then all hell would break out![:-))]

Some five years later on, the same copper, "Jock" Surtees - honest, that was his name! - came to see me as I had bought a Triumph TR2 sports car, which had a registration problem. Nothing illegal just a mix-up between the seller and me. Jock gave me some very sound advice, as my car before, was an Austin A35. A wee bit of difference. He was more concerned with my and other's safety than anything else, and boy, did I respect him!

A few years later, I drove against Jock in competitions: turned out he was one of the top police and competition drivers in the South East: we could laugh about the earlier years. Wonderful bloke. And I respected him more after I learned of his skills and successes.

Happy days! They really were, too.[:D]

 

[Logan]

How or what you will get from living in France depends entirely on your own personal position. This has been said by many members here before.

If you are retired or have a good personal income sufficient for your needs France, or more accurately rural France will be a joy. It will be a joy if you are self sufficient, like simply pleasures and are good with your own company. Otherwise it will bore you out of your mind.

If you need or want to run a business or make a living in this so called market economy it's entirely different. You will find France difficult beyond belief, frustrating, enormous hard work for almost no reward. The repacious state will be a monkey on your back with a very large hand in your pocket. You will not be able to enjoy the other France because of worry and concern for yours and your families future. If you don't believe me then ask any French person. Then ask yourself why they all appear so down trodden and depressed with a sad disappointed quality in the older generation........Forgive me if I am patronizing you all. Reality is subjective but experience is golden.

Gluestick I have replied with a PM.

[Gluestick]

Well, you'll all got me going now on one of my soapboxes! It is critically important, I believe, since kids and their skills are the future: and their future is always in our, not their hands.

Where did it all go wrong?

Learning is a matter of discipline: self-discipline on the one hand: and imposed discipline on the other.

As society has disintegrated and self has become the most important criterion with the majority, the value of education has been lost. With tower crane drivers earning £900 per week, and white van drivers earning significant sums, the core driver for obtaining an education has been lost. I well remember a professor from a University in the sixties, telling his students to stop wasting their time and become bricklayers! Wise words in one sense. Today, they all want to be footballers pop stars, models or DJs.

I have watched each successive generation (privilege and wisdom of age!) grow up and have kids of their own. now on generation three. If the parents don't know how to behave, how can their kids?

The reality was brought hime to me in the late 80s, when one of the kids at the school I was a governor of, attacked a teacher with a baseball bat! And this was a girl! I also remember wasting most of a day, on a disciplinary hearing for one of our teachers, who had finally snapped, and whacked little Jimmie on the head with a history book. Little Jimmie, of course, histrionically. fell to the floor and groaned. Another kid said, "I think you've killed 'im Sir!"

In the final event, loads of people had to be there: solicitors for the LEA; for the teacher; experts, witnesses and most of the governing body. And all because the teacher was protesting a disciplinary black mark on his record. Don't blame him. After that, he was off with stress etc and came back to teach for the minimum few weeks and then of again, meaning that he was effectively retired early.

If no one values education, from the politicians down, through the parents and the kids, then, eventually, good people won't be teachers: and far too many take up teaching as a job option, rather than from choice.

From the late 50s on, society started to devalue teachers, instead of having the awesome respect they commanded.This has escalated to the point where Gresham's Law prevails: the bad drives out the good.

Shuddup, Gluestick, back to work![:)]

 

[Gluestick]

Maggi:

Don't you think that drunken, wife, spouse and partner beating, as well as child beating happens, today?

Apparently, it is worse than ever.

Also, despite Social Security, child Support etc, many kids still go hungry and are cold. With inner city decay it is growing exponentially.

Many UK pensioners live on the breadline: and many more beneath. As do many families: more than since the 70s.

In many areas the UK is currently headed back towards the draconian excesses of Victorian England.

Why do you think that antibiotic-resistant TB is running out of control? And Weils Disease?

As I did say before, the UK experience depends on where you live and what job you have and what wealth you have access to: and perhaps above all, luck!

 

[PossumGirl]

I suppose it's really how one looks at these things. We've run our own business for well over 20 years, both in the U.S. and now here in France.  True, some things seem easier in the U.S., and if you make a lot of money, your overall tax rate will be lower.  However, we haven't found it particularly more difficult to set up a business here than it was there.

In Los Angeles, we paid federal, state and city taxes.  All three had different regulations and rates.  Since there is no mandated health cover, if we wanted to be protected, we had to pay private medical insurance which was running us over $8,000 per year when we left and didn't include any dental or optical, plus had high deductibles for both medical and prescription coverage.

Dealing with the administration was every bit as complicted and frustrating in America as it can be here; in fact, because we've gone from a huge city to a rural area, we've had an easier time here than we did there.

I think that if one wants to get rich, you probably have a better chance of that in America (or the U.K.) than you do in France.  But, for us, there were other compensations for moving to France. We chose a more rural lifestyle because I prefer to breathe rather than eat my air.  I would rather walk places than spend hours on a congested freeway.  I like not having to worry about an angry driver taking potshots at me if I piss him off.

Granted, for people like us, we were able to make this decision because technology has enabled us to run our business from a rural location as easily as we once did from a city.  We are probably incredibly dull people; we don't go clubbing, we don't eat out all that often, we'd rather watch movies on a DVD in the comfort of our own home than go to a movie theater where people feel the need to talk and kick our seats, our idea of entertainment is sitting around and talking with friends over a good meal, playing a few hands of cards, walking our dog and talking to the neighbors, etc.  Clearly, it's not for everyone, but I'll take it over city life any day of the week.

PG

[Gluestick]

Has anyone read Patricia Atkinson book, "The Ripening Sun"?

Wonderfully evocative of French rural culture and above all else, a fantastic story of a very brave and determined lady conquering lots of sad and tough breaks.  And succeeding: in France.

I was so moved by this book, which I read last week (twice as it captured my imagination) that I contacted Patricia in order to ask her some leading questions about herself and the book. She assures me that WYSIWYG.

Well worth reading.

You can read something about Patrica on  http://www.cdywine.com

 

[bryansmith]

Hi gluestick

Yes I have read her book (and the new one recently published). I too think that she is an amazing woman and has achieved so much in the face of adversity. Her second book is just as good and even more moving than the first. Do try it I am sure you will enjoy it.

[Gluestick]

I am honour bound to buy and read Patricia's second book, Bryan, since in her last email, she thanked me in advance for buying it! I very much look forward to the book, too, of course.[:)]