Random whining

So...
This post is dedicated to all the people who have been wondering why I haven't been posting anything in March. I have jot down a few experiences out of the ones I have had in the past month and done with them what I do best: whine... It's ok I love my life and I know I don't have a rough one either: in fact I'm grateful for everything I have. However, I am writing my whinings here in the hope that my experience might be useful little advices (or things to think about) to some readers.

Reminder: Please remember that no one is forcing you to read all my points so stop reading as soon as it gets to be too much whining for you in one go.

• Group interviews: BEWARE of them. I hope one day it will be a banned practise. You are in a room with other people who are applying for the same job as you. At the same time, you have to BOTH be nice to them and engage with them AND compete. It is, I believe, very inhumane. And generally sad. And at the end of it you have schizophrenic thoughts like "Well, what a nice bunch of people...oh I hope I get the job...oh what a lovely person good luck to her...oh no maybe not?!?"

• Ryanair's terravision bus from London Victoria: where does it leave from? Yes, I've also been travelling a lot this past month and I've had to do it in the middle of the night, as the takeoff time of the plane was around 6AM. Buses from Victoria leave regularly at night, making it possible for the sleepless ones to get to the airport on time. However, the Ryanair buses leave from 2 different bays...and online or on the ticket you print at home there isn't a way to find out from which bay the bus leaves. I suggest you go to the Terravision Cafe' (which is in between the 2 bays) and you ask the person to give you the little leaflet where the buses that leave from bay 2 are highlighted in blue. Or follow the blog and I'll take a pic of my leaflet soon so you can find it here.

• NHS, some help please? Recently I've felt my knee funny and dull pain. To sum up, after having been twice to two different healthcare practices and after following their advice (i.e. "take ibuprofen, put some ice and keep it elevated but you can walk just don't put too much weight on it") none of the nurses or the doctors I have seen has done further analysis on it. My knee  started to swell and properly hurt, nevermind the discomfort. I now know it is a problem with my patella and they didn't discover it at all and never helped me to find a specialist that would. And that is nothing: a friend of mine was in pain, called an ambulance and they asked her 3 times the same kind of information. All they were worried about was where she was living, not how she was feeling. She was left sitting on a chair, somewhere just like that. I mean, come on NHS! I've found a few nice receptionists and nurses but really, the majority of the people that has seen me haven't been helpful. :(

Can you relate to any of the points above?

Do you have something to moan about?

Comment below!

BBC and LSE: it is ON. Airing tomorrow.

Isn't it interesting that, just after a recent post of mine on what I believe is BBC's social recklessness -more like futile emphasis- on a social aspect of our society (i.e. social classes), the LSE vs. BBC scandal erupts?

For more information on the story, I suggest you to read this article as it tries to take an objective stance as much as possible, and it is also full of detailed information.

What do you guys think? Is it true that LSE students didn't know the true nature of the project or did the BBC tell them the details? As an LSE alumni, I think that the students wouldn't have any gain in saying they didn't know anything if indeed they were informed.

I also have to say that during my academic experience at LSE last year (I did a one-year long taught Masters course) I felt that the LSE was very respectful of the BBC as an institution in general. It is very interesting to see the School taking such a strong stance on this. However, I am glad and proud -that is, if the students did indeed ignore the details of the great danger they were actually facing.

However, do you think this story is actually publicising the BBC show (due to air tomorrow eve)?
Whatever the case, I am glad that LSE students and alumni are keeping up the good work of spreading this news/scandal.

The LSE has suffered from recent scandals before (I am sure you remember the Gaddafi's son story) but at least on this one, it seems to be on what we could call "the good side": defending the students and doing so even by going against the national mainstream TV.

It is also intriguing to look at the video of Sweeney talking about this too.
Video is the third one on this page.
"The majority of the students support this programme" said Sweeney multiple times.
Really? Is "the majority" enough to you? Also, erhm...dear Sweeney...hello?
You are a journalist: did no one ever tell you about how much your body and tone language can convey? In the clip you definitely "erhm" many times trying to dodge those harder questions posed to you.

Just be honest because: we are talking here about young people that you've contributed to put at risk.
And who knows...it could have been me or a friend of mine in another life. Or your son or daughter.
Come on...be a big man and apologise. Even if only one of the students has complained, that doesn't mean that what you did is ok.

BBC's Great British Class Propaganda

You remember when in the movie V for Vendetta the British government official starts dictating what to do in the media to help manipulate people's opinions and keep the dictatorship in place? Maybe the Great British Class Calculator should have been in the movie as an exemplar tool that seems fun but really, is changing your perception of things and directing people to make certain propagandistic cultural assumptions.

Call me conspiracy-lover, but I think there are the assumptions that are embedded in the discourse of the little interactive system. Assumption which make us think more about our differences rather than what we have in common as people living in the UK.

Here they are:

1. First assumption: our social system is made up of social classes.
Don't get me wrong loads of people do want us to believe that, in the UK in particular, there is this social class system within which people always try to categorise themselves. However, is it there really or are the differences merging?


2. Second assumption: everyone who takes the "test" is going to be categorised so everyone is part of a class.
What about people from abroad living in the UK? No test is going to be able to measure each person's individuality. The BBC is blatantly ignoring the opinions of real people that have taken the test. Just read the comments here to see what users say.

Apart from the test's questionable validity, SHOULD any tool measure people's individuality?
It took me ages but I eventually did realise that being different is never a bad thing...thank goodness we aren't all the same! It is true: psychologically we sometimes need to use our brain to categorise people because it helps us remember more...but society never helps us grow out of this childish and inaccurate habit of ours! Why shouldn't we grow out of it? Life is, thankfully, more complicated than that. Do not just see your neighbour as your neighbour: you might miss the fact that he goes to the same gym you do, he's got interesting political opinions and (why not) he might even have interesting salsa moves! He is a human being after all, and as a human being his life is more than just being the neighbour of yours.


3. Third assumption: classes are acceptable social categories worth studying.
If the BBC spends money and time to make it, then the assumption is it must be worth knowing about. Is it really? Why is the fact that there are classes in place always worth mentioning before any event that has (or is) uniting people in some sort of way?

I suggest you being more inquisitive when it comes to things like that.
Do not fall for it. Do not give these discursive elements for granted.
Think with your own head.

The day in which one human life is worth more than another one is today.
The mentality is in place. I find this much more worth talking about than what my result is on the flippin' social class calculator.