Category Archives: Trivia
‘Please **** off, you’re too stupid to get a job’
This was the email that a “top recruitment executive” sent out last week and he has now been forced to quit his job – after he mistakenly sent the expletive-filled rejection email to 4,000 people.
Gary Chaplin, who reputedly earned £200,000 per year at Manchester firm Stark Brooks, received a mass-mailed enquiry from Manos Katsampoukas. But instead of replying to just him, he accidentally replied to all the 4,000 employment leads Katsampoukas had contacted in the first place. The Sun reported that Mr Chaplin was so incensed by the email, he replied by telling the prospective employee to ‘f*** off’.
He told Mr Katsampoukas: ‘I think I speak for all 4000 people you have emailed when I say, “Thanks for your CV” – it’s nice to know you are taking this seriously.’
Mr Chaplin added: ‘Please f*** off … you are too stupid to get a job, even in banking.’ He ended it: ‘Yours hitting the delete button Have a nice day!’
His reply sparked uproar in the recruitment industry, with one recipient replying that it was ‘appalling’ and added: ‘It displays an unbelieveable degree of arrogance’.
Mr Chaplin has had to resign over the matter and told newspapers: ‘I am mortified by what I did … It was a moment of idiocy.’
‘I am now looking for a job just a few days before Christmas. If I could turn back the clock I would. I will regret this forever.’
So who is the stupid one now Gary???
After 30 years in the recruitment industry nothing amazes me anymore – as has been said on more than one occasion that I am aware of If you can do, do. If you can’t do, teach. If you can’t teach – become a recruiter. No wonder our industry gets such a bad name!!!
All is not what it seems
London 2012 organisers have been forced to apologise for airbrushing the historic World War II ship HMS Belfast from an official poster depicting the capital’s skyline. Games organisers said it was “a simple mistake in the advertising production process” for London 2012 Festival. The ship, which served in both World War II and the Korean War, has been moored near Tower Bridge since 1971.
A London 2012 spokesman said: “HMS Belfast was unfortunately excluded from one of the seven adverts for the London 2012 Festival. “We are very sorry about this – it was a simple mistake in the advertising production process, and we apologise if this mistake has caused offence. The mistake has been rectified and posters without HMS Belfast in are being removed.”
One of my own personal favourite Photoshop blunders is this one – how on earth did this manage to get past quality control???
Scotrail Update
On a final note regarding my Scotrail “incident” a few weeks ago – here is the response I’ve received from Customer Relations today:
“Dear Ms HeywoodThank you for your email dated 18 October 2011. I am sorry that you have had cause to complain.
On most routes we offer a combination of fares being an Anytime single, Anytime return and Off-Peak return. On the Edinburgh/Glasgow route the Off-peak return fare has been reduced to less than the Anytime single and as a result it has created an Off-Peak single fare which is only 10p less expensive than the return. The Off-Peak return fare was reduced to less than the Anytime single to try and encourage passengers to travel at Off-Peak times. The Off-Peak single is an anomaly in the system and cannot be removed.
I understand that on this occasion you purchased a single fare instead of a return, and although I appreciate that the similarity in fares may cause some confusion when ‘rushing’ to buy your ticket it is the customer responsibility to ensure that they have left enough time to purchase their tickets, and that the ticket they have bought is valid for the journey they wish to make.
I also note that you tried to upgrade your ticket at Haymarket station. Since you were no longer in possession of your outward ticket it was not possible to change or upgrade your ticket. I can only add that the member of staff who did eventually upgrade your ticket was actually acting out with ScotRail policies and should not have carried out your request. Any ticket for 10p issued without the outward single ticket would generally not be valid for travel.
On a separate matter, I notice that we have not responded to your comments within 7 working days. I apologise for this delay and am happy to inform you that you are entitled to a Rail Travel Voucher for £5.00, in accordance with the conditions set out in our Passengers’ Charter. The voucher can be redeemed for tickets with any UK domestic Train Operating Company within the next 12 months. In order for us to send this to you, we will require that you reply to this email with your postal address and quoting the reference number above.
Thank you for contacting ScotRail.”
Note to self – must read this Passengers’ Charter that they refer to – wasn’t expecting the £5 voucher – this might actually get me almost half way to Edinburgh next time I need to go!!!
Dentally defective rat?
Conservative senator Nicole Eaton has said in a statement to the Senate that the beaver is no longer fit to be Canada’s national emblem, and should be replaced with the polar bear. She apparently said that the beaver was “an outdated symbol, and a destructive rodent”.
The polar bear – with its “strength, courage, resourcefulness and dignity” – would be a better fit, she argued.
The beaver has been the official emblem of the country since 1975 but the senator believes that it is time for an an “emblem makeover”.
“Many accuse the dentally defective rat of being a nuisance that wreaks havoc on farmlands, roads, lakes, streams and tree plantations,” she said, adding that a country’s symbols can “change over time”.
“It is high time that the beaver step aside as a Canadian emblem or, at the least, share the honour with the stately polar bear.”
Ms Eaton’s staff told The Globe and Mail newspaper that the senator was a fan of polar bears – she has several photos of the Arctic beast in her office. However, a member of Parliament who represents Manitoba said removing the beaver would ignore the animal’s impact on Canada’s history.
“Polar bears are cool but the beaver played a pivotal role in the history of Canada,” said New Democratic Party MP Pat Martin. “It was the relentless pursuit of beaver that opened the great Northwest.” Early French and English colonists worked and lived in the country’s far reaches to trap beavers for their pelts.
Removing beavers entirely from Canada’s national symbols would be labour-intensive: a stone beaver sits on top of the entrance to Parliament and appears on Canadian nickels.
Michael Runtz, a natural history professor at Carleton University told Canadian television that the national emblem is not just a question of history.
“They are like Canadians. Their demeanour is very pleasant,” he added. “Polar bears inspire fear.”
Thank goodness we don’t have this problem in the UK. All the countries in Britain have their own patron saint and floral emblem:
England, the Rose and St. George, Scotland, the Thistle and St. Andrew, Ireland the Shamrock and St. Patrick and Wales, the Daffodil or Leek and St. David.
I really can’t see this changing anytime soon – or being debated in Parliament for that matter!!!
October already
I hope I’m not on my own when I say that I can hardly believe we’ve reached 1st October already. I know it’s a by-product of getting older that the time just seems to fly by and I am convinced that the years are simply slipping by without us really noticing!
Living in Glasgow as I do, I am usually ready to start turning on the central heating about now and gearing myself up for the long winter ahead. The Indian summer that the rest of the UK is experiencing has mostly slipped past us up here and the news pictures of sunny beaches at Skegness is somewhat irritating when I look out my window at the torrential rain outside, but I digress.
These are not “normal” times. We are almost certainly about to enter the “double-dip recession” that the politicians and newscasters regularly warn us about (not much chance of any of them being made redundant?) and money has never been so tight for the average man or woman on the street.
Taking all these things into consideration, I have decided that the 1st October should mark the start of a new beginning and a fresh approach to the world in general. I will free myself of the negative people in my life. I will knuckle down and find myself regular work in order to finance my somewhat wasteful lifestyle and the exotic foreign holidays that I so enjoy. I will do more exercise, eat more healthily and maybe even lose some weight – why wait until the New Year to have these resolutions – 1st October is the new black!
Failing that, my numbers might come up in the Lottery this weekend and I can just retire (but only if my winnings exceed the previous £2.50 of course)!
Party anyone?
When I was 5 years old, birthday parties were a simple affair. A handful of your closest friends from school would come round for tea – always marmite or jam sandwiches and sausages on sticks followed by jelly and ice-cream. This would have come after the obligatory party games such as musical chairs, pass the parcel and musical statues. The guests would then be sent home with a piece of cake wrapped in a serviette as a thank you for attending.
When did this innocent celebration turn into a massive production? Who invented the party at the nearest soft play area? We have several near where I live and I was invited to one this week – Animal Magic in East Kilbride. These soft play areas have become the latest big money spinner where our small people are concerned and I can’t decide whether they are a good or a bad thing – you decide.
On entering the building, which is set on the edge of a trading estate, the first thing that hits you is the noise. The large room, the size of a warehouse, is full of children – hundreds of them in fact – and mostly under the age of 5. Having found your own party’s host, the children are encouraged to head off to the other end of the room where the soft play area is situated.
This is where I think it gets interesting. The sales blurb says that this is “Somewhere safe for them to run, jump, climb and have fun; to stretch both their physical abilities and their creative imagination to the maximum, whilst providing a relaxing environment for parents. Given our climate, the best all year-round solution is an indoor, soft, multi-level, adventure play area.”
Now, they may well be right. It gives the kids the opportunity to let off steam in a relatively safe environment and they are supervised by the staff as well as the parents. I do feel however that it becomes less a party for the birthday girl or boy, but more a party for all the participants. Again, good or bad thing? Not sure.
After an hour of play, the kids in your party are all rounded up to be taken off for the birthday tea. This in itself is a feat worthy of some sort of medal for the poor soul who is in charge of events. There is always one child who goes missing at this stage and then, finally, everyone is there and we can go to the party room. Party room? Party room? Wait, let’s think about this … perhaps party cupboard would be a more accurate description. A small room with no windows and no obvious method of ventilation, where the kids are crammed in and presented with their choice of such delights as “nuggets and chips”, “hot dog and chips”, “macaroni and chips” … you get the picture. Happily, the meal is rounded off with a bowl of jelly and ice-cream – some traditions are hard to dispel obviously!
After the blowing out of the cake candles and the sing-song, the kids are sent back downstairs for a final 20 minutes of play before the afternoon is brought to an end at the stroke of 5pm. Red faced and exhausted they head off home, presumably for a relatively early night.
The advantages for the parents? Well there is no clearing up to get done as this is obviously done for you – you can just walk away and leave the mess behind you. The disadvantages? Well, I can’t help but feel that the fun of the party games was sadly missing. All in all though, the kids all seemed to have a great time so I suppose that is all that matters.
On a final note, however, I was disturbed (yes, that is definitely how I felt) when I found out that there was indeed an animal corner at Animal Magic. Across from the cafeteria area were 3 glass cabinets – one containing a huge snake, one with lizards, and a third with Marmoset monkeys. Now I was under the impression (mistakenly apparently) that keeping monkeys as pets in the UK was illegal. Imagine my horror on doing some research that it is possible to own this species without any form of licence at all! On closer inspection, one of the monkeys was carrying two small babies on her back. They were clearly well looked after, fresh food and water was in the enclosure. I couldn’t help but feel that this was completely wrong however. The conditions were not ideal, approximately 10 monkeys kept in a relatively small glass box being gawped at all day long by small children – they would be much better off in their own habitat surely?
Is this wrong?
I’ve always thought that people who dress their dogs up in clothes are slightly disturbed – think the likes of Paris Hilton and various other useless Z-listers who are “papped” on a regular basis with their Yorkshire Terriers and Chihuahuas with bows in their hair and poking out the top of oversized handbags.
Why then, did I feel the need to get my poor Cocker Spaniel, Sylva, a grey hoodie? I have absolutely no idea what possessed me but I have to say that I am completely delighted with it – every time I look at her I can’t stop laughing – she looks so cute. Oh well, guess I’ve finally lost the plot!
Almost rich!
Imagine my delight when I opened my emails this morning to see a message from the National Lottery saying they had “some news about the ticket you bought for the Friday 16 September draw.”
Now I’m the kind of girl who keeps her feet on the ground. Not for a moment did I think I’d won the mega millions first prize, but I did allow myself the fantasy of thinking that maybe a few thousand would be winging its way to me and the shopping list was already forming in my head.
Imagine the disappointment then, when checking my account, to find I’d received a message congratulating me on the fact that I’d won ………. £2.50!!! I’ll try not to spend it all at once!
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