Jim Driver
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Tag Archives: Archie Bunker
Totally Useless
December 17, 2008 Featured, Lead Story, Life, London, People, WorkArchie Bunker, Basil Fawlty, Boris Johnson, Gordon Brown, Incompetence, Ken Livingstone, New Labour, Old Labour, Richard Herring, Victor Meldrew, Workadmin
Is it me, or has there been a sudden outbreak of incompetence in the world? An epidemic of uselessness, a plague of purposelessness. Has the world ceased to function correctly?
Everywhere I look, people seem incapable of, or unwilling to do their jobs. From the tele-clerk who won't believe you are who you say you are and not the person their screen tells them you are, to the London minicab driver who doesn't know his way from Camden Town to Oxford Street. What can you say to the N.H.S. clinic that takes three months (and counting) to order a pair of insoles you can get online for next-day delivery? And how can you chastise the Internet mail order company that answers the email sent to their online support address asking where your goods are, with a reply that says: "This is an automated response. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to your next order"?
It's finally starting to get me down.
"They" are turning me into a hybrid of Victor Meldrew, Archie Bunker and Basil Fawlty, all rolled into one grumpy middle-aged tosser. Perhaps it's an age thing? Would I have shrugged it all off ten years ago, or is true that the world is suddenly being run by useless idiots?
The bigger the business, the worst the incompetence. Take my bank: a caring, sharing kind of organisation and by no means the worst of their type, but even they let me down – constantly. Here's the most recent example: exactly 22 days ago, I wrote two separate letters, asking them (a) to close down one account and (b) open an internet account for another. Not a word back about either. Except that on Saturday I received a sniffy letter from them acting all surprised that the company whose account I wanted to close, is being wound down. They received the information from Companies House they say, and add that they would "appreciate a reply within 14 days". I would have too, but unfortunately for them, their deadline has already passed.
On a wider scale, the idiocy of politicians still has the power to astound me. As a long-suffering Labour supporter, I'm getting used to starting the day feeling depressed after hearing what "our" politicians have to say on early morning BBC Radio 4. But sometimes they really do reduce me to tears by their unbridled stupidity.
For example, when our current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, entertained his Tory predecessor, Baroness (Margaret) Thatcher, to tea in September 2007, it was hailed by the media as something of a coup, a slap in the face for Conservative leader, David Cameron, and an endorsement of New Labour, etc. Rubbish! Not only does this show that Gordon is a moron, it also highlights the inadequacy of the British media, because that meeting signalled the start of most of Gordon Brown's political troubles.
In case you didn't know, Old Labour types like me, hate Margaret Thatcher with a vengeance. (Even worse than we loathe Tony Blair, Jim Davidson and Cocoa Cola.) Single-handedly she changed the face of British life forever. Deliberate unemployment, "Loads of Money", the decimation of the mining industry, privatisations… Do I need to go on? After the disappointment of Blair, we were hoping that Gordon Brown would wipe something (anything!) off New Labour's gleam. Back then Gordon was still in his honeymoon period, but the second he kissed the Thatcher ring, it went up in a puff of smoke. The Left were immediately alienated.
The Right immediately sniffed blood. The fact that a Labour Prime Minister felt he had to "seek Lady Thatcher's approval" proved that the "Reds" were on the run. It boosted Tory confidence that Gordon was as vulnerable to attack as Tony Blair had been and it led to a string of Labour by-election defeats and to Ken Livingstone's replacement as London Mayor by bumbling Boris Johnson.
I'm no expert on politics but even I saw the pitfalls in the Brown-Thatcher Love-In. So how come the media and Labour advisors allowed it to slip by? Prime Minister Brown can count himself lucky that a Global Financial Crisis came along to deflect attention from his personal and political shortcomings.
On a private level, my own incompetence stands out like a sore member. Just over a week ago, I promised to write a blog every single day. After only seven successive blogs, I failed. As a result of this abject inadequacy, I have decided to modify my original goal to produce only a blog every few days…
I am obviously no Richard Herring. For that I can only apologise.
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