My gast is really flabbered!

My dear old Granny was right.......Empty vessels do make the most noise.
There are many people who visit GransNet who have coped with a lot more than most of us will see in a lifetime. They do it calmly and gracefully and show the good manners not to make others feel uncomfortable when a topic that might be sensitive is raised. Also most of them fully understand when a little humour is injected into an otherwise unpleasant subject. Certain folks, on the other hand, think its hugely funny to take offense where none is intended....its a shame but I suppose its life. I prefer to smile calmly at them in my best pre-school leader manner and 'tut' at their lack of good manners, and pass on.

jollyg Sun 15-Jun-14 10:21:44
Is there an Ignore button here? Cant see it.
Yes there is, it's next to the button which reads :
Delete (The ill advized message you posted which greatly upset me, who HAS been thru' the pain, heartache and misery of REALLY being bereaved, and didn't find your tactic either funny or clever.)
I wonder how many others thought the same way, but feared the vitriol of the responses I get if they protested?

no doubt AAAA happy man will be happy to point it out jollyg

Is there an Ignore button here? Cant see it.

Isn't it "between you and her ", if we are splitting hairs?

On the whole..

And I do hope, jollyg that you weren't upset by the attack on you. On the hole GN is a place where you can "talk" freely without being mocked and bullied.

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Maggiemaybe Sat 14-Jun-14 19:29:40
For someone who claims to be opposed to rudeness and bullying, Happyman, you seem quite happy to hand it out. I assume you don't know jollyg or her circumstances, so you don't even know whether she was lying.
Tut, tut, Mmb
My Grandmothers taught me that I should always bale my hay before I took it to market.
Setting aside your unsubstantiated claims about my claims and what I support, or don't, or even if I'm a hypocrite [Gadzooks] - this is what jollyg actually wrote, not what you think she wrote.
jollyg Fri 13-Jun-14 11:57:58
I use to reoly to the boiler houses ers. " Sorry my husband died yesterday..
1) Might it be that you didn't pay full attention in your English Grammar classes and so can't recognize that this was NOT a one off occurrence?
2) died yesterday was used each time. So, unless Mr jollyg was a latter day Lazarus .....
3) No, I don't think that jollyg was lying about what she said she said on the phone to .... the boiler houses ers. as you seem to be suggesting. However, that's a matter between you and she, which I DO hope you'll be able to resolve amicably, Egad !

Ana Sat 14-Jun-14 18:55:47
You do know that's short for 'God's truth' don't you, HappyMan
Zounds, Ana. Yes I did know that, sometimes ''HIS Truth'' meaning 'god'.
The Urban Dictionary 'says'.
'struth
Contraction of the words "God's truth"; exclamation, mild oath frequently used by all dinky-di Aussies.
Alternative spelling: strewth.
Strewth! That's a bonza bush telly!
It's an example of a minced oath and was according to many sources invented by THE Bard.
This, and many other minced oaths, pepper Sheridan's (1751 – 1816) plays Gadzooks [God's hooks, the nails of the Crucifixion - First Known Use: 1694]

I generally try to be pleasant to people who call doing surveys or offering services that I might be interested in. They are, however, in the minority. Most of the calls we get seem to emanate from either India or China and are about non existent computer problems, PPI's that we haven't got or car crashes that we haven't had. At one point we were having half a dozen calls a day from the same number. That is when you cease to have any sympathy for the person making the call, especially when you find you can hardly understand any thing they say. If I have time and I'm in the mood I have to admit that I do play with some of them for a while.

I didn't quite say that in my post, about being believed, AAA. You added that to it. I was just saying that is what I say.

My last paragraph of the post at 17:26:20 was tongue-in-cheek. I think Silverfish will see the joke all right.

For someone who claims to be opposed to rudeness and bullying, Happyman, you seem quite happy to hand it out. I assume you don't know jollyg or her circumstances, so you don't even know whether she was lying.

You do know that's short for 'God's truth' don't you, HappyMan?

Elegran Sat 14-Jun-14 17:26:20..... I got the impression that they are for people whose boilers are totally out-of date and useless, (like their owners) so play up age, infirmity and lack of energy. And that is just the boiler.
'struth !

Hello, durhamjen [Sat 14-Jun-14 00:09:49] and Elegran [Sat 14-Jun-14 10:18:50]
Thank you for your support against people who tell such lies, and for such trivial reasons. I agree with you that people whose life partner has died can end up not being believed, if others are using this reason under false pretences.

You won't get a chance to say much, as it is a recorded call and they don't wait for you to answer. I have never listened right to the end, but I assume that they say "To contact us press 1" or something similar. You could also try contacting any boiler seller at all and asking about it - if it is really a Government scheme then they must be available everywhere.

I got the impression that they are for people whose boilers are totally out-of date and useless, (like their owners) so play up age, infirmity and lack of energy. And that is just the boiler.

I could do with a new boiler in the next few months, what do I say to a boiler person if Im lucky enough to get a call. any advice. By the way Im assuming these boilers are free or very cheap.

I reply like Durhamjen AAA. I have informed everyone that my late husband had dealings with of his death and cancelled all accounts and subscriptions, and had sympathetic replies from most of them. No-one who knew him would phone to ask to speak to him. It does absolutely nothing for my jolly life to be reminded again that after 52 years I am alone.

So those who do are calling from an out-of-date list of names who might, just might, be interested in their product/service. HE most definitely will not be. To tell the truth, he would not have been interested in cold callers in his lifetime either, so in a way I am answering for him.

I imagine it is a response they hear quite a lot, either ltrue or false. My other reply is "No, I am sorry you can't speak to him" - polite, true and short.

When people ring up asking to speak to my husband, HappyMan, I say, "I wish you could, he died in 2012."
It's true, so I am not telling fibs. They usually put the phone down quickly.

jollyg Fri 13-Jun-14 11:57:58
I use to reoly to the boiler houses ers. " Sorry my husband died yesterday... (sic)
Gosh, jollyg, what a jolly jape, jollyg - did you feel REALLY proud of yourself, jollyg, pulling that jolly jape on some happy chappy determined to make your life un-jolly, jollyg ?

Years ago we kept getting calls from a kitchen fitting company (in the UK) - up to three times a day, for weeks on end. The reason one of us answered the phone is because it was pre-TPS etc and the callers' numbers were not shown on phones.

Finally, I told them that if I received any more calls from them, I would take them to court for harrassment. Oddly enough, the calls ceased after that! Admittedly, this probably wouldn't work with today's overseas callers.

The reason calls from abroad cannot be stopped is because our government has no control over what happens in India, Spain or The Netherlands. It would have to persuade these governments to stop the calls and these governments all have more important things to think of and electors to serve to worry about people in the UK receiving these calls.

DH has been at the receiving end of boiler room calls for some 15 years and had the official letter warning him that his name and address is on these lists. Why I do not know, he has never been tempted to consider investing in these schemes and when the phone rings and they ask for him, the first thing he asks is: 'Who are you? and as soon as they say they are 'Smith Jones investments', or whatever their name is, he just says politely 'I am not interested in doing business with you and rings off.

I agree with Silverfish, that one should always end the call courteously - and quickly - I feel, perhaps unkindly, that anyone who knowing what these calls are about, still lets themselves be drawn into conversation, is knowingly putting themselves at risk and deserves little sympathy.

I use to reoly to the boiler houses ers. " Sorry my husband died yesterday..
Can I put you in touch with the solicitors? " Phone went dead. ho some did send comiserations......... Once you fall for such calls , you are DOOMED

Jobs I meant.