Brand Loyalty - To Buy Or Not To Buy

A few weeks ago, I saw an article on TV about high street shopping and how, to save the shops we love, we have to commit to them.  This got me thinking about the whole idea of brand loyalty and whether or not it exists in this economy. 


To be honest, I've never had any steadfast loyalty to any brand.  Growing up in a household with ten other people, we were lucky if our tins had any labels.  All shopping was done with consideration and planning with the main aim to be to save as much money as possible.  And now that I have children of my own, the same rules apply.  When we moved here from Ireland, it was a pleasant surprise to find that if we shopped around, there was significant savings to be made.  Yes, we do prefer brands some of the time.  The OH would prefer to only drink Coca-Cola, the boys prefer Kelloggs for breakfast and I can always tell the difference when we have Heinz Baked Beans.  But we can't afford to be picky, especially nowadays.  I will splash out on brands when they are on offer and when Andy sees we have branded goods, he'll always ask if they were on offer!


I've never felt neglected having own- or un-branded goods.  I don't really believe in labels either - I'm quite happy with supermarket clothes and anything special, I don't mind "vintage" from eBay.  My sons think the whole idea of buying clothes because of what's emblazoned on it, is ridiculous, which I'm very proud of.


How about you, though?  Have you always bought the same brands?  Do you think it's a question of money?

Everybody's Shuffling

So I have decided to blow the dust of this blog especially to take part in Seasider Clare's shuffling meme via Nickie at Typecast.  As I only have the one album on my iPod at the moment, I have chosen to shuffle my iTunes.  God knows what this'll turn up....

The Masterplan - Oasis

My Own Peculiar Way - Joe Dolan

Dog Day Are Over - Florence And The Machine

It Feels Like I'm In Love - Kelly Marie

I Believe In Angels - Abba

Oh dear....

My Favourite Christmas Song

It's been a proper age since I blogged (or did anything else for that matter, since I started my new job), but I've been tagged by Ceri at The Liberated Womble to write a post about my favourite Christmas song.


I'm still not in full Christmas mode yet, although I have changed my complete iPod playlist to carols and festive tunes.  These range from the trip-off-the-tongue favourites to obscure long-lost ditties.  From all of these, it is hard to pick a favourite.  However, there is one song that has the ability to total fill my chest with emotion, at any time of the year.  And you'll be surprised when I tell you that the first time I heard this, it was the soundtrack to Home Alone.


Enjoy! x

Kids Gaming And PEGI Ratings

So I know I'm late to this one and sadly only now got around to blogging on this issue, but for what it's worth, here's my tuppence worth.

Both Nickie at Typecast and GeekMummy have blogged on this subject, as have some others and probably more I haven't had a chance to read.  The opinions on these two blogs are both balanced and I can understand both points of view.  However, I have a different approach to my own boys use of computer games.

This may shock, but the first game that my lads played was on PS1, way back when they were pre-school was Tekken, which was pre-PEGI but rated as T for Teen.  They played under supervision with their dad.  It never occurred to me that it would have any effect on them.  Despite their young age, they knew it wasn't real.  They never re-enacted the moves.  I know this isn't a "gory" game, which I certainly wouldn't have let them play so young.

But as they got older, I never really paid any attention to the age limits on any games or movies.  Up to the age of 12, I never let them watch anything or play any game that I didn't first research.  To be honest, they weren't really big fans of shoot-em-up games back then.  But when we discussed new games as they were realised, often among a flood of public outrage, I gave my opinion on what I thought was unnecessary and simply sensationalism.  It would be then up to them to decide whether it suited them or not.

The reason I never paid any attention to age restriction guidelines is because I know my lads better than anyone else.  I know that at the age of four, Andy was quite mature and knew the difference between right and wrong.  I know that even now, at the age of 14, as much as Joe would love to watch a Saw movie, he simply can't sit through the whole thing.  I know that, whatever game they play, they realise it's not reality and has no bearing on their real life.  I know they communicate with people online, but they know the dangers.  (I will be first to blog when the debate about kids online arises).

It's been 12 years since my lads fostered an infinite bond with games consoles.  So what has been the effect of all this "delusional, lazy" parenting?  Well, both my sons and straight A/B students.  Their behaviour in school is exemplary.  They've never had an ASBO, a caution or even a detention.  They've never been in a fight - well, never a physical fight; both are quite prepared to voice their opinions vehemently.  I couldn't be any more proud of them and people tell me often what fine young men they are turning into.

So you can say this makes me an irresponsible parent, makes me delusional and lazy.  But it works for me.

Dear John...

Continuing on the line of my job seeking, I will share the story of my attempt to secure employment with Asda.  Previously, I had avoided applying, as the Asda is literally a stones-throw from my house.  Surely a plus point, I hear you cry?  However, at the moment I work as a dinner-lady in the local school - a stone's slingshot away? - and can't go shopping as it is, with children stopping me every two minutes to say hello and introduce me to their parents, while said parents attempt to conceal two bottles of wine and a pack of chicken nuggets.  So if I was to work there, I'd be a sitting duck.  However, they were looking and I was seeking so I applied.  And - YATTA - I was called for interview.


I was told the interview was a group format and formal dress wasn't required.  So I made the mistake of dressing informally.  And, of course, all the other fuckers had dressed to impress and I looked like I was sticking it to the man.  We were all led into a cramped room with a big table which we all sat around. Before anything else, there would be an "ice-breaker" - yep, it was THAT type of interview - where we would find out about the person next to us and introduce them to everyone else.  I tried to be friendly and make genuine conversation with the lady next to me.  Ah, but she was a seasoned interviewee.  Her tactic was to fire questions at me, gleaning as much information as possible without offering up any of her own.  After the three minutes, she looked on smugly as I stood up to introduce her to the ensemble.  But I had an ace up my sleeve.... I was just gonna downright lie!  I didn't "quite" say bestiality was her hobby nor that she cultivated recreational drugs, but they got the picture. 


Then we were given a "talk" about Asda - facts, figures, policies - you know the sort of thing.  It wasn't quite how I imagined.  What it came down to was a massive  bitchfest about how much better than Tesco they were.  Literally.  She bitched about their staff.  She moaned about their prices.  She complained about their delivery system.  And worse than that, this she did with cringe-worthy grammar and questionable spelling.  (We were supposed to be shown a video to back-up all the "information" she'd given us, however the TV didn't work (?)).


Next we were split into four groups, given a bag of equipment and told we'd to complete a task as a group - setting out a plan, achieving a goal and presenting our findings.  The task?  To construct as high a structure as possible, using balloons and sellotape......... yes, really.  I'm a bloody dinnerlady, for fucks sake!  I can create a game with two sticks and a hairclip.  This is child's play!  However..... I hadn't reckoned on what everyone perceived to be the ACTUAL "object" of the task - to stand out from the crowd, to show you can be a team player, while being an epic team leader, to be confident and not afraid to speak our minds.  Well now, not to blow my own trumpet, I'm actually all of those things and I don't need no balloon-task for me to show it.  However, I AM very competitive, so cue my taking over and making sure our tower was the highest.  We made our plan, wrote it all down, got the thing to stand four foot high and one of the lads gave the presentation at the end - I showed my delegating skills, as he was supposed to be an actor (ok, so he was looking for a job at Asda which made him a pretty shite actor presumably).  


Task over we were back at the table for a run-through of the working hours, rates of pay and general requirements to work.  "Uniform always to be worn.  Polite and courteous at all times.  No vibrant or unusual hair colours...".  Wait, what?  WHAT?? It was only then that I sensed the elephant in the room.  Really?  She waited until she'd subjected me to Tesco-bashing, talking to strangers and "playing" with balloons to tell me this?  Didn't she notice, because surely it's her job to see these things?  Did she think I'd be offended if she asked me to leave?  Was she colour-blind??  


So at that stage, I felt it was time to leave.  And with the words, "We'll be in touch" ringing in my ears, I took my PURPLE barnet outta there.  Yes, purple. I sat there for forty bleedin' minutes, for her THEN to announce that she never had any intention of giving me the job in the first place. *sigh*


And, the VERY NEXT DAY, I received the obligatory Dear John... letter.  They were so glad I applied and, although they had nothing suitable at the moment, they would be in touch once something arose.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they realise that need a purple-haired, bossy, loudmouth Irish woman.  I'm thinking something in PR.....

Job Seek Her - The story of my efforts to gain employment

So, ok, I do have a job.  But I only work for five and a bit hours a week.  The money comes in handy, but I am available for other work.  I'd love to get out there, meet new people, contribute to the household.  But for someone in my position, it's not easy.

For many years, I was the main breadwinner in our house.  I was successful, I made decisions, I wasn't just someone's mum.  Then it came time the eldest of my lads to start school.  I wanted him to go to our local school, which meant our previous childcare arrangement no longer worked.  So I gave up work.  Although I've never regretted spending all those years with the boys when they were younger, I would have liked to have done both.  My OH would be first to admit that he took a firm step back and never allowed any flexibility in his work-life to help accommodate with MY potential to work.

And so we moved to the UK and this diminished even more, my ability to work.  So I stayed home, settled the boys into school, made sure I was always around.  I did brief take up a job, but as I was essentially the boys sole carer during waking hours, it involved working nights.  I stuck it out for two years, but found it extremely hard.  I used to come home at 7am, go to bed for an hour, get up, get the lads sorted for school, drop them off and then eventually get back to bed to sleep until it was time to pick them up again.  When I finished there, I didn't work for a while, for most of the boys journey through primary school.  Then when my eldest was in year six, I was lucky enough to get a job working as a dinner lady at his school and I've been there ever since.  I love my job and I think I'm pretty good at it.  But it's not enough.  

So fast-forward a few years and I'm still a dinner lady and although I've been searching on and off, I haven't been able to find another job.  I find filling out applications daunting.  My CV is somewhat like Chesney Hawkes and stuck in the 90's.  Although I think I have gained very beneficial experience through life in the last two decades, potential employers don't see it.  I understand it a tough market, I understand there are single earner families that wouldn't understand my necessity to work.  But it's tough out there, I want to do my bit.

This is where I will vent from now on.  I will attempt to find two jobs to apply for each week and keep you abreast of the outcome.  Here's hoping this is a short-lived idea with a successful result!

The Aftermath from Amy

The news of Amy Winehouse's death spread like wildfire on Twitter.  I, like many, were sceptical at first, but it wasn't long before the "Breaking News" banner was scrolling across the Sky News screen.  And along with confirmation, came the many opinions of the Twitterati.  I didn't much get involved with the conversations, from either point of view, so I thought I'd reflect on my feelings here instead.

The first deluge of tweets were the "She brought it on herself" camp.  Amy Winehouse's addictive and self-destructive lifestyle were well documented as were her father's frequent attempts to have admitted for rehab.  The last performance video of her in Serbia shocked so many people and my observation then was why had her management team let this happen.  However, I've never been behind the scenes in Amy's life so I can't say what really happened.  What I can say, is that not one of us should judge someone else's life when it was not ours to live.  Having an addictive personality is a recognised syndrome and anyone can be inflicted.  To say Amy deserved the death she has because an infliction she couldn't control is callous and ill-informed.  If I was to die tomorrow, would people say, "Sure she'd no-one to blame but herself.  Did you see the size of her?  She was a heart-attack waiting to happen!"

Another frequently tweeted message questioned how people could be sympathetic towards Amy Winehouse when so many young, innocent people had been killed in Utoya.  The reason Amy's death affected more people was because, as a person in the public eye, they felt they knew her.  It felt closer to home.  And since when has our sympathy and sense of injustice been finite?

Then there's the issue of the rapidly spreading jokes that followed Amy's death.  Though you may fine it crass and heartless, it is human nature.  It's been happening for many years and always will.  It could be a defence mechanism, it could be a lack of empathy or it simply could be that some of us have a warped sense of humour.  I didn't find all the jokes funny, I thought some were tasteless but then again, I can have a giggle just like the next black man at a sexist or racist joke.

So, that's my opinion.  I do hope Amy can now finally rest in peace.