Goodbye Maggie

Monday 8th April 2013 was a sad day. My sister's horse got diagnosed with fatal kidney failure, a family friend's dog fell off a balcony and will probably be paralysed and Margaret Thatcher died. While the larger percentage of the world won't be bothered in the slightest about the tragic fate of the horse or the dog, Maggie's death has had a somewhat bigger effect on the general public.

In all honesty I don't know nearly as much about her policies and changes as I'd like to.. (even after watching The Iron Lady..) For me personally, she's interesting because her era was announced by Saatchi + Saatchi's iconic ad 'Labour isn't working.' An ad straight to the point that met the country's emotional needs. (Or "a truth, well told" according to a competing agency). In terms of PR, she was definitely a major media mortal whose image was honed and toned by some of the brilliantly best in the business; her PM public image was definitely different from the earlier Minister of Education Margaret! A true media madam.

But that's not the point.

I am such a spring chicken, that I wasn't even born when she finished her run as Britain's Iron Lady. Therefore I feel that I am in no great position to judge whether she was good or bad. Of course with my astute graduate level analytical skills, I can analyse whether her policies and decisions benefitted Britain in the long run.. paha. However I really cannot comment on her affect on Britain at the time. Let alone judge her as a person!

And sadly that is exactly what people are doing... The Tab Nottingham reported that there was cheering at the NUS (National Union of Students) delegate meeting on the news of her death, on Saturday night there was a 'Thatcher's Dead' party on Trafalgar Square in London and The Wizard of Oz's 'Ding Dong the witch is dead' song threatened to make it to Number 1 in the official UK charts.

Literally, say whaaa? This simply is not ok! Regardless of who she is, she was a wife / mother etc etc ie. she has family and they've just lost someone they love. When did it ever become acceptable to cheer a death?? Sadly I think that this situation is pretty much the same as the August Riots in 2011.. Oh look, a situation has arisen that allows us to behave like morons.

I really really do hope that people will pull themselves together at her funeral tomorrow and pay the  deceased Marmite Maggie (people seem to either hate or love her..) the respect she deserves.

Hiding behind the internet...

“Hi sexy xxx ” - these were the actual words a complete stranger sent me on Facebook the other day via private message. Upon looking at the ‘info’ on his Profile, I was delighted to discover he was an apparently single sleaze looking for ‘attractive, single girls for…’ (I won’t burden you with it) After I’d obviously deleted the message, WITHOUT responding, I did stop to think.

Why on earth do people think that this is ok?! I put good money on the fact that had I passed this lovely lad in the street, he wouldn’t have even so much as squawked at me, so what gives him the right to do it over the internet?

Another scenario: one of my housemates is one of this years ‘Flirty Thirty’ on ITV’s dating show Take Me Out and I hasten to add puts on by far the best performance. She comes across as genuine, pleasant and good fun and doesn’t once put a foot out of place. Yet still, five minutes into the show #takemoeout is obviously trending on Twitter and, although there are nice comments about her, the majority, are simply unnecessary and ridiculous.

So why do people think that it’s in any shape or form acceptable to hide behind the internet? An ‘online presence’ myself, I like to occasionally twitter my (probably useless) thoughts and ideas to the outside world or get in contact with people via Facebook, and yes it is a way of meeting new people. But surely just because the receiver of your message may not know you or know who you are, does not make it in anyway acceptable to be horrid or simply out of place? You may not be face to face and the other person may not physically see you, but you’re still conversing, so surely conversation conventions apply. I wouldn’t dream of walking up to a random person in the street and telling them their voice is annoying/I fancy them, would they like to…(you get the jist).

Come on guys. Manners apply on the internet as much as on the street.