LOL. Point taken. Let no-one accuse me of not having a sense of humour, at least

Fair play to ya, mate.

Karma sent for a good-natured response in a potentially explosive thread!

Now you're just being silly. Or irresponsible. Or something else that we should all, no doubt, disapprove of.

Or something.

just telling it like it is

ooo forgot ont other stall 2 melons for a pound with a pineapple chucked in, I kid you not so there you have it Chesterfield market Friday afternoon BONZA

Thanx. It's appreciated.

Chesterfield Market?

Are you saying that people actually live in Chesterfield? I mean, willingly?

its got a crooked steeple

Um, OK.

Speaking of Bananas

Two bananas are sunbathing on a riverbank when a turd comes floating by. He yells out "Come on in, the water's great!"
One banana looks at the other and says "Do you believe that sh*t?"

Actually I didnt call you a liar at all or insinuate it. I merely stated that the price of grapes as listed by Sainsburys when I made my post was that. Fruit prices change frequently and I have no doubt that you did indeed purchase at the rate you said. Moreover the price I quoted was from a different retailer entirely.

It was merely a comparison that fresh produce prices in both countries fluctuate according to demand/season, loss leading and the retailers own purchasing power and stock levels.

This thread is starting to be just one small level up from the price of lettuce discussion

This is far closer to reality than Hutch's rant.

When I began posting on BE, I was far more generous about Oz. However, the absolute rubbish that is sometimes posted about so-called Godzone Oz and sewer UK would often go unchallenged. Hutch would love for me to say I hate Oz and Aussies, but I don't. Sure, I stick to what I say about it being parochial as hell, a place to commit professional career suicide, being boring as batsh*t etc.

But, these are generalities. However, the fact that a range of posters post very similar criticisms about Oz, shows there is more than an element of truth to them. Heaven forbid, I even have Aussie friends.

In the end, Hutch belongs to the group of BE readers that don't want anything bad said about Oz, because it makes them feel uneasy and think "Perhaps I'm not doing the right thing?" So, it's best to dismiss criticism of Oz with words like 'hate' etc. Still, I'm sure even Hutch can figure out whether the comments are pertinent to him or not.

But, I can't be too hard on him, the video of the Commandments "trailer" was very good.

BTW, keep on posting arkon, you are one of the the few entertaining posters!

I think this post really hits the nail on the head. The fact that arkon has criticised Canada in the same way he has criticised Australia, speaks volumes about his true motivation. If Canada is rubbish for the same reasons that Australia is rubbish, then the whole issue has very little (if anything) to do with the characteristics of the country in which arkon finds himself, and everything to do with his personal worldview.

I don't think arkon would be unhappy no matter where he lived; I simply think he would be unhappy living anywhere outside the UK.

In my personal opinion, arkon is a homebody. He needs the comforts of a regular routine in familiar surroundings, with everything just as it has been for years. He has a very low tolerance for anything outside his comfort zone.

All his comments about how rubbish Australia (allegedly) is; his extraordinary anecdotes which leave other ex-pats scratching their heads at arkon's relentless stream of unique experiences; his seemingly supernatural levels of incredibly bad luck; his unsubstantiated claims about the allegedly poor quality of Australian schools whose names are mysteriously never mentioned...

All of this this has very little to do with Australia and everything to do with the fact that arkon simply wants to be back home in the UK, where life makes sense to him and the surroundings are comfortably familiar.

There's nothing wrong with this, provided that it doesn't descend into bigotry and xenophobia. For some people, it's a worryingly fine distinction.

I felt exactly the same way after my "honeymoon period" in the UK had worn off. My list of "Things that REALLY bloody bug me about the bloody UK" was a mile long. I began to convince myself that I hated the place, when in fact I merely hated my circumstances and my (temporary) sense of isolation.

It felt very strange, but in fact it was perfectly natural; it was culture shock.

In time, I got over it - and I got over myself.

Life settled down, and so did I. I found myself a permanent job, married a wonderful English woman, had an amazing honeymoon in the Irish Republic, got my head down, worked hard, dropped my old job, found a better one, worked hard, received a promotion to middle management... and here I am, feeling on top of the world.

Some people enjoy living in a different country and embrace all that it has to offer - even if they struggle a bit at the start. For others, it just doesn't click and never will; but they wouldn't have known unless they'd given it a go.

I believe that arkon falls into the latter category.

Fair play to him for giving it a go... even if he had to slag off every aspect of the entire country in the process.

Amen to THAT brother! K sent!

Graham

Ever heard of CYCLONE LARRY -category 5 -wiped out almost whole of banana /fruit crops in QLD!

Indeed. There's a reason for everything and although someone will no doubt say that Australia should just bloody well import them to bring costs down (which I happen to agree with) I think there's far more important things to worry about so let's just have a big group hug

Graham