Captain Tom

[roxfox]

To be super fed up of hearing about him?

It's not his fault but the media etc seem to be using him to distract us from more important things. He's featured on the news more times than I can count. He received over 125,000 birthday cards - he can't possibly read even a quarter of them, what a waste of money and paper. And poor Royal Mail having to get it all to him.

There's not one day we don't here about him and now he's getting a plane or something flown over his house. The 28million he's raised is stupid money too - yes great for these NHS 'charities' but goodness, they are all on full pay! What about the food banks and million other things we could've all supported.

We've gotten so used to hearing Rishi throw money around I think we've forgotten how much money that is.

Is it just me? I feel awful. I know he's a lovely old man who's served his country all his life and will probably die very happy and yes we all need some lighthearted news but ffs all he did was walk around the garden.

Captain Tom - Great Bloke. Thanks very much.

Media sycophants all over him every minute of everyday on the telly makes me want to dry heave. Piss off.

Pack it in now

He’s been focused on as an alternative national lottery (known as idiots tax in central gov)

Nice !!!!
Fucking cheek.

I have stopped watching the news now because there isn’t a single positive story on it.

But that’s not what the news is for. I watch the news so I can try to keep myself informed about how exactly the hapless band of clowns that is our government (and some of the civil service) have fucked up today. And to try to make informed choices about things like whether, on balance, I should wear a face covering when outside.

Not to be cheered up.

Captain Tom - Great Bloke. Thanks very much.

Media sycophants all over him every minute of everyday on the telly makes me want to dry heave. Piss off.

Pack it in now

Perfectly put.

I love him. The genuine look of delight in his eyes when prince William spoke to him directly was heart warming.
I agree with pp though he has had all this attention forced on him and it has gone a bit too far now.
Wish him happy birthday tomorrow then leave the poor guy in peace.

No-one is allowed to do anything positive without someone coming along and wanting to destroy it
Many people do very positive things but don't care of the media, celebrity, royalty attention.

I agree it's not him but I do feel his family have used him to feel good about themselves and see this as a attribute to their good PR skills. Reminds me of those parents who do the same with their one off celebrity children.

I would have had more respect if he'd raise £1k, doing it all himself and only a message in the local papers.

There's also now doing a RAF fly-by for his birthday... What a waste of money.
Yes, he did something really sweet, but people just jumped on the bandwagon because a bit of a feel-good story made them feel better.

And all the birthday cards he'll never, ever read? What an unnecessary waste of paper and postage. Not to mention the unnecessary strain on the Royal Mail.

All just silly nonsense frankly.

He seems like a lovely and decent chap, who wanted to do a good thing, but then it's been jumped on by the media and blown up to massive proportions. The birthday card thing is ridiculous, who sends a card to someone they don't know anyway, and what a waste of money which could have also gone to help others. Poor old chap will probably be glad when the fuss goes away.

I don't know whether I feel sorry for you or whether I'm appalled by you OP. It must be grim being so full of bitterness and vitriol.

It's a shame there's so many people who are happy to sit back on their arse bemoaning the efforts of other people to make a positive difference, however large or small.

I just this just demonstrates clearly that we as a nation love to moan about something. Surely there are much more important things to moan about? Tom Moore has a great idea, initially hoping to raise £1,000; at a time when good news stories are few and far between, it's hardly surprising that it's captured the public's imagination.

Although it's a fair point that it shouldn't close our eyes to the government's chronic underfunding of the NHS over the years of austerity; my DH, who is a union rep with Unison, has said that quite a few times. But it isn't the fault of Tom Moore, who did a good thing.

I would have had more respect if he'd raise £1k, doing it all himself and only a message in the local papers. Your respect is irrelevant. It's about a large amount of money available to make people's lives a little bit easier.

you can't blame the old chap just because the nation needs someone to admire.

Your respect is irrelevant. It's about a large amount of money available to make people's lives a little bit easier
Except it's not a large amount ofo money to the nhs at all, not even a few hours worth.

It suited the family to pick the nhs rather than local care home who would have benefited much more from it but then wouldn't have had the same publicity.

It's all a big media publicity stunt and people fell for it because people act like media is a religion.

Whilst I think private people raising money for public services in order to fund them better is not the solution, I would like to see you, OP, raising that much cash! The man has done something amazing and deserves the credit he is given 100%. Also no one is stopping you from supporting the charity of your choice, just because someone else has decided to help the NHS.

Surely there are much more important things to moan about?

Of course there are. But mn would be really quite if people were only allowed to posts about the worst things happening.

It suited the family to pick the nhs rather than local care home who would have benefited much more from it but then wouldn't have had the same publicity.

To be fair, why would they raise money for a privately owned business down the road?

It's all a big media publicity stunt and people fell for it because people act like media is a religion.

Your giving people far too little credit.

you can't blame the old chap just because the nation needs someone to admire. Well put
Except it's not a large amount ofo money to the nhs at all, not even a few hours worth. The money isn't used to run the NHS

I would like to see you, OP, raising that much cash!

I'm sure the op could, if they're elderly or disabled enough to be patronisingly fawned over. Not either of these things, OP? Chop your leg off and start hopping around your garden for the NHS or food banks, someone get started on the thankfulness parade.....

@notverybright. Your giving people far too little credit.

Not sure about that.

Proud of being as sour as if you've sucked a lemon for breakfast, & wanting commentary and attention from other bitters. How great thou art

Maybe find something to bitch about other than a nearly 100 year old man, who fought in the war and has accomplished more in his life than any of you ever will. Sickening.

Yes, yes, yes (and yes)

I feel awful.

So awful you decided to bitch about him on MN.

all he did was walk around the garden.

What have you done?

I respect him and what he has achieved but I agree it’s all gone over the top.

125 000 birthday cards that he won’t read, had to hire out a school hall to put them in. What a waste of resources and RM time.
People creating bespoke gifts that he doesn’t want or will ever use.
An RAF flypast (do you know how much that costs??) and a clap on his birthday.

Too much.

It worked though as it’s distracted away from the fact the NHS has turned into a charity which is a very very very bad thing.

all he did was walk around the garden.

Yes, but he did it with his Zimmer frame, which means that he really can't walk without it. That actually does make it quite an achievement for him.

Imagine if finding the negative in every situation didn't actually make you smarter than everyone else.