The Era of Diminishing Standards

[samkydd]

I heard the expression The Era of Diminishing Standards the other day and it seems very apt for what should be an exciting new century, full of technological and scientific wonder, but it certainly isn't!



Unfortunately the things we used to do quite well have fallen by the wayside and seem much harder to achieve than complex inventions/medical breakthroughs etc.



Cleaning a public building properly like a hotel or hospital seems almost impossible. Getting good food and service in a UK restaurant or cafe, where you always have to ask someone to clean the sodding table before you sit down to eat. People littering the streets with takeaway wrapping or tossing rubbish out of their car windows on the move. General bad manners like coughing without covering the mouth, foul language in public, being openly drunk and disorderly, spitting on the streets, vomiting, talking with a mouthful of food on display, belching, farting and I've even witnessed a young woman squatting in the gutter to pee!



Driving aggressively in urban streets where pedestrians can easily be knocked down, loud music coming from cars and apartment windows, scruffy policemen and other uniformed branches with zero people skills, shop assistants who can't be bothered to look for what you ask for, dog owners not picking up their animal's crap, cyclists riding fast on crowded pavements or in pedestrian precincts/shopping centres! The rebuilding of Wembley Stadium fiasco!



A lot more poor quality TV programmes than ever before saturated with stage-managed fly-on-the-wall docusoaps and reality shows, awful cinema remakes, mediocre pop artists churning out rubbish cover versions or middle of the road musak, newspaper and magazine obsession with celebrity tittle-tattle! Corrupt MPs not offering their resignations when they get found out! Drug addicted stars always getting the red carpet treatment by the police and media! England football players treated like Gods even though they always perform badly for their country.



Travelling by public transport over any considerable distance whether it's buses, trains or aircraft seems to be a disorganised mess subjecting passengers to unnecessary hassle, expense and stress, most recently the ridiculous Terminal 5 debacle which made us all feel like a nation full of half-wits!



I could go on and probably will, but are there any examples of this Era of Diminishing Standards you are painfully aware of?

[m35541]

I disagree with you on the restaurants. Quality of food available much now is far better than ever before. When I grew up in the 1970's there was practically nowhere you could get a meal on the high street when you were out shopping for the day - except for a Wimpey Bar and they were, and have always been, absolutely disgusting.



Where my dad grew up in the 1930's there were huge areas of the city he was frightened to go in as each street was controlled by its own gang of kids.



Are you suggesting we go back to the days when everyone who wasn't a toff knew their place and doffed their caps to the upper classes and cheered "vote conservative"?



And don't get me on crap TV from the 1960's and 1970's - On the Buses, Crossroads, hundreds of identical imported US cop shows, no ball-by-ball test match coverage...

[davidb]

there a whole army of people whose job it is ,is to make excuses for other peoples lousy conduct ,when i hear that some offender suffers from some kind of quickly thought up disorder or was drunk or drugged ,like that makes it ok ,it really annoys me ,what about individuals responsibilitys ,not their rights ? copyright david cameron 2007 ! or at least david camerons script writer

[Gazza]

Well of course, with rights come responsibilities. I believe we have no right to anything unless we know how to use those rights.



For example, anyone's right to wear a purple shell suit ends when it meets my eyes



In response to m35541, I'm not sure sam was harking back to some other idyllic time. I read his post more as an ironic comment on the realities of us living in a supposedly more advanced era.



The mobile phone, for example, has changed our lives but the etiquette that accompanies it is nowhere near sorted. I cannot abide being in a restaurant and seeing a knife, fork and phone laid on the table.

[davidb]

i think it would help if some of todays pop singers gave a little back to show their gratitude ,do some charity work ,that sort of thing ,with her looks and demeanour ,amy wineshop could do something for distressed horses for example

[Gazza]

You following me on that scooter david?

[davidb]

yeah ! and ive got the pretty girl as pillion

[samkydd]

name='m35541']



Are you suggesting we go back to the days when everyone who wasn't a toff knew their place and doffed their caps to the upper classes and cheered "vote conservative"?

No I'd just like people to take a pride in their work and show good manners, and as for TV, cinema and music how about some originality and creativity instead of copying other people all the time?



I worked as a kitchen porter when I was a school kid and although I considered myself above washing-up pots and pans at 12 years old, I was being paid to do it and so I put the effort in and did a good job. Other countries have a similar attitude, no matter what the job is you do it to the best of your ability, but unfortunately this doesn't always appear to be the case in the UK!



I booked a mini-cab a few weeks ago and this slovenly scruffbag turns up stinking of BO in a car that was filthy inside and out, with stains all over the seat covers which smelled like the inside of a tramp's underpants and he was astonished when I told him to go away! How could he expect someone to pay him good money to travel in such a vehicle, it was skin-crawlingly disgusting! So instead of sitting on his arse between calls and reading the 'paper, why didn't he make an effort to make his car and himself more presentable? I would have been ashamed to turn up in that state!

[davidb]

the minicab driver like a lot of other people is probably only interested in big brother type celebrities, people famous for being famous ,he [ like a lot of other people ] takes no pride in his work ,why should he ? when you can earn a fortune for being a gobshite like jade goody ,or pretending to sing like posh spice

[rskershaw]

I keep noticing at work the increasing amount of people who do not hold doors open for the person behind them.



Litter is everywhere on my mile and a half walk to and from work. I noticed some council employee cutting the grass of a littered public lawn during the week. When he approached litter, such as cans or plastic bottles he would either mow around them or kick them out of the way. Paper and small plastic bags/wrappers he just mowed over, shredding them. No effort to clear the rubbish was made at all. Can't these people multi task? Surely pratical sense dictates that a grassed area is cleared of rubbish before the grass is cut?

[samkydd]

name='rskershaw'] No effort to clear the rubbish was made at all. Can't these people multi task? Surely pratical sense dictates that a grassed area is cleared of rubbish before the grass is cut?

[davidb]

is it necessary for young women to walk round shopping centres etc with their knickers being exposed over the tops of their trousers ?[ i must be getting old if this is something im now complaining about ] there was two young women in asda yesterday leaving nothing to the imagination as to the colour and style of their underwear ,is it necessary to be like that

[samkydd]

name='davidb']is it necessary for young women to walk round shopping centres etc with their knickers being exposed over the tops of their trousers ?[ i must be getting old if this is something im now complaining about ] there was two young women in asda yesterday leaving nothing to the imagination as to the colour and style of their underwear ,is it necessary to be like that

It wouldn't be so bad but with their short tops as well their beer guts protrude more than their breasts! I never know if some are pregnant or whether they just feast on kebabs, chips and lager every night!

[davidb]

is it time to bring back the public information films ? some of them were just reminders of what good manners are ,im sure some people dont mean to cause offence ,maybe a little prompting is all thats needed ,

[samkydd]

name='davidb']is it time to bring back the public information films ? some of them were just reminders of what good manners are ,im sure some people dont mean to cause offence ,maybe a little prompting is all thats needed ,

I'd like to see a series showing public information films. When I was in the military they had many MoD ones, some made way back in the 1950s and 60s. Absolutely brilliant in their sheer "naffness" , and with various narrators, one of whom I'm sure was Patrick Allen! A lot of them were focussed on the nuclear threat and others were very early Health and Safety ones.

[davidb]

theres 2 dvds called "charlie says " which are a compilation of the old public info films ,mostly from the 70s ,great fun to watch ,as for today it surprises me that they havent brought them back ,theres the adverts with whatsisface off what the romans did for us ,telling us " tax doesnt have to be taxing ",like youve got a choice in the matter ,if they can have pointless ads like that then they could have ones that might be of some use to people ,i reckon theyre missing a trick not bringing the public info films back ,modernised of course ,some like the pertunia ones were very entertaining ,

[rskershaw]

I seem to remember Public Information Films about 'The Countryside Code'. Its about time we had those again considering the amount of junk left by visitors to National Parks.

[Marky B]

name='rskershaw']I seem to remember Public Information Films about 'The Countryside Code'. Its about time we had those again considering the amount of junk left by visitors to National Parks.

Couldn't agree more!

Ta Ta

Marky B

[CaptainWaggett]

There are still public information films if you ever find yourself watching the BBC at midnight. I saw one the other day about the perils of imported food - I think Nigerian cheese was particularly deadly (I'm not making this up!)

[rskershaw]

name='CaptainWaggett']There are still public information films if you ever find yourself watching the BBC at midnight. I saw one the other day about the perils of imported food - I think Nigerian cheese was particularly deadly (I'm not making this up!)

Glad to see the BBC has got its priorities right. Do thank them, in future I'll make sure my Cheddar doesn't come from Cheddar in Nigeria