to ask those posters who are entirely self-made and wealthy how they would like to be treated ?

[OrmIrian]

Because clearly most of us are doing it wrong.

We are always carping on MN apparently. And going on about the poor and how hard their lives are. I think this should be addressed forthwith!

Should there be a sort of new form of address? 'Hail, oh beacon of success, may your hard work be always rewarded, may no-one ever accuse you of being lucky, may your children always be able to walk in the hallowed corridors of private schooling without ridicule, and may the forces of socialism and the whingeing, feckless poor never darken your sight!'

Would that do it?

Thread about a thread.

Does battenburg with the marzipan peeled off count as low-carb then? If so, might try some

Is that thread not just a wind-up thread? There are lots on active convos at the moment.

I am self-made. A self-made loser it seems who fucks up everything she touches and no matter how hard I try to make things work, I end up fucking up anyway. Yet another Christmas of make-do. It pisses me off no end that we seem to spend our lives at least, going round in circles.

Sorry, shouldn't have written that. Ignore me. Having a shit time.

I just bought posh Heston mince pies from Waitrose, with...get this, pine sugar dusting! WTAF was I thinking about? I am being totally unreasonable :o

Wealthy self made people don't eat cake. They have staff to eat the cake for them so that they don't consume the calories, rich people are never fat. Fact. Not to be argued with and any examples of fat rich people will be ignored.

Wheresmymilk were they nice? I was dithering about them today

Bloody lovely mumble, especially when warmed up in the oven for a bit :o

What's pine sugar? Is it like maple sugar, but piney?

Rhubarb, join me in the corner on Saturday night and we can bitch and moan togevver.

ColdSancerre is only saying that so she can, in fact, eat all the cake and say she's staff while pretending to give off an air of decency.

Thanks jajas. Just lost half my workload, just before Christmas and am really struggling. 2 years of working for myself and it's not getting any easier or any more successful despite working really fucking hard. I'm snappy with the kids, miserable with dh, worried all the time and always always working. During the day, evening and weekend. When I'm not working I'm looking for work and right now I've been dealt a huge blow (which could have been bigger) and am finding it just a bit difficult to start again. How many times must I start again to provide my family with a decent level of living? And why does it seem that the harder I work at something, the more it all fucks up eventually?

The tea is lovely, thanks

What is it you do Rhubarb? Any product/service I or other MNers might need?

I just filed my first year's tax return and was shocked at how little I'd actually made, once I knocked off my expenses.

Don't think I'll be buying myself a jag any time soon.

I filed my tax return in the summer for last year and am still waiting to find out how much tax I owe - when do you expect your first tax bill?

I write copy for websites mumblechum. SEO, blog posts, site content, that kind of thing. Have just joined PeoplePerHour so am hoping that might come up with something soon. Just had a major setback that's all. Still reeling from that.

Sorry rhubarb Always having to scrape it together for christmas gets so miserable doesn't it?

pag - there will be cake!

But if sancerre is to be beleived "They have staff to eat the cake for them so that they don't consume the calories" I never ever want to be rich! Unlikely to happen...phew!

Cake works for me. Cakes works especially well for me today. So being as I am indeed, self made, and considerwably better orf than ewe, I want it dripping with chocolate. On a doily. (Doiley?). One of them paper snowflake-esque things.

If any of you rich oikes want to ease some of that guilt burden, then I'm more than happy to relieve you of a few hundred quid

How about we have a Sponsor A Poor Person scheme? I'll write you letters telling you what I've spent your money on!

How about treating them just like anyone else? FFS.

That's hard Rhubarb.
I hope things pick up in the new year for you.

I know OrmIrian is being quite tongue in cheek but there is quiet a serious issue lurking behind the thread.

I have felt for quite a while and seen it said in various places that family life the social structure of the UK is returning to the Victorian era. Indeed, on MN today, the thread about executive pay and the disparity with the pay of the ordinary worker actually says that gap has never been as wide since Victorian times.

The comments on 'benefits bashing' threads swing between attitudes of 'Victorian benevolence to those less fortunate than ourselves' and 'Lazy and feckless people should go to the workhouse'.

I find the attitude of people who are 'homeowners' to those who merely 'rent' is palpable in RL. The way working people are increasingly treated by their boss, the life for many people on NMW and frankly the debt slavery that many people are in hand to mouth on credit cards is all reminiscent of the Victorian era.

As the saying goes. History does not repeat itself but it certainly rhymes.

Thanks Sal

I do think everyone should be treated exactly the same and I would hope that I wouldn't treat anyone any differently if they lived in a caravan or a manor house. However if any secret millionaires are on here - I will treat you specially good and break out the branded chocolate biscuits!

MoreBeta - as a family we are worse off now than we were with just one of us working. Dh hasn't had a pay increase this year, his overtime has been stopped and with petrol prices, groceries and everything else rising we find it very hard to keep it all going. Yet there are others we know who have never been better off.

But then this is a Tory government after all. It figures.