David Beckham

Money does buy knighthoods Gilly

Gilly just realised I haven't been fair to you, sorry

I remember how I felt let down when I discovered Corbyn was not the man of honour I believed him to be. I was so upset and angry

one could say (& many of you have) that he has shown his true colours, I would say that many gransnetters have shown 'their'true colours by highlighting the jealousy & spite they feel for people who are financially well off or whom they perceive to be above their station, none of us know the truth behind this latest furiore, I say' walk a mile in my shoes before you criticise & abuse' & yes that still applies even if they are expensive ones !!!

It's nothing to do with spite and jealousy norose4. All this has come about because a wealthy footballer, who already has an OBE is having a tantrum, throwing his toys out of his pram, because he has not been awarded a knighthood, which he seriously believes he is fully entitled.
He has done nothing to deserve it. He is a spoilt child.

And what he said in private was stolen and made public , no fault with the hackers I note

norose4 what a thoroughly wicked, nasty, pathetic post. So if any of us criticise anyone who is financially better off than us, it is due to jealousy and spite? Shame on you. I for one will continue to criticise as I see fit - that will include people better and worse off than me.

And AB plenty of us have said that hacking is not acceptable but that does not let DB off the hook

norose are you his mum?

Im with norose. How people are calling your post wicked and nasty is probably due to someone telling them the truth

Let Beckham off the hook? what on earth is he doing on a hook?

Ahhh thanks Stillaliveandkiking?, .... Rigbyrose ?I can think of many other footballers whose mum I would not want to be!!

Sorry that should have read RIgby46

SAAK, AB and morose 4 - thanks for adding so positively to this discussion. Beckham has not been tantruming in public, his private emails were hacked and publicised. He isn't a saint, none of us are. He's worked very hard, as has VB. There is something very unpleasant in this country about the way in which those who have earned or inherited wealth are sneered at, undermined and criticised at every turn.

Iam I'm surprised at your using terms like sneering and undermining which are very different from criticising - many of us on this thread have done the third one but not the first two. Do you think wealthy people should be exempt from criticism? FWIW I think many wealthy people are part of the problem in our society for a whole raft of reasons and as appropriate deserve to be criticised - if the information comes out illegally that's not to be applauded but it doesn't mean I would then not take account of it. .for many of us on this thread I believe the main issues are giving to charity in return for expecting an honour and at the same time engaging in at the least aggressive tax avoidance. Some of us threw his language, and especially the c word into the mix as well. Is this sneering or undermining? No, it's criticising.

And if you want to talk about working hard, how about using the OP as an example - it's clear from her posts that she works her socks off as a small business owner ( and family member) for scant financial reward whereas DBs rewards are out of all proportion to the hard work he allegedly does- actually what is working so hard at at the moment?

I think it is a hazard of the "job", and I will include Trump in that, is that if you actively choose very much to play your life and sometimes those of your family too into the spotlight day after day after day,
then part of the "job" is to accept the criticism. Which they are probably doing.

Sometimes, to people who do that, any publicity is good publicity? Does that still hold true?

Personally I wouldnt be at all concerned about them. It is merely a blip.

Rigby, so bringing in his children, his wife has a miserable face, his grammer is bad into it is legitimate criticism ?

And surely it's post not poster which should be discussed

AB the point I was making was that Iam made a very very sweeping statement linking together sneering, undermining and criticism. Many of us on this thread did not engage in the first two and it was perfectly acceptable IMO to engage in criticism. But the fact that some people may have posted things I wouldn't does not invalidate the nub of the criticisms that were made overall. This method of trying to deflect an argument by saying some people said the things you listed is really weak.

Rigby, you are not the sole poster on this thread, Iam was correct .

one thread several posters, some have sneered, mocked, criticised. I fully agree with Iam , I disagree with you. Perhaps you need to try looking past his money and seeing a human being who like us all has faults.

Carry on with this , I have no wish to,. Boring now

So he was disappointed not to get an honour and said so in PRIVATE emails to one of his team. The emails were couched in strong language and were ungracious, but they were PRIVATE. Then his PRIVATE emails were hacked and used to try to blackmail him. He and his team decided not to give in to this, and the messages were published (there is an allegation that they were doctored for publication)

As a result, a lot of people have condemned him for hypocrisy and knocked him down from his pedestal with his halo round his neck.

I would like to know how many of those kicking him in the proverbials now that a flaw has been revealed (or manufactured) have ever said IN PRIVATE something that they would blush to have repeated IN PUBLIC ?

I would never have put him on a dizzying pedestal in the first place. Pedestals are for saints and plaster angels, or for coconuts set up to get missiles thrown at them. He is just a normal decentish guy with a bit of skill, and a human being like the rest of us.

Well said Elegran

That is it Elegran.

Thanks elegran, as ever your calm comments hit the spot.

As for sneering - some of the comments on here about VB would fit that description, I recall one poster referred to her as his lollipop wife, others to her facial expression. The lollipop description is usually used to describe young women who are very thin, some to the point of having an eating disorder. Some gransnet members will have struggled with an eating disorder, some will have children or grandchikdren who do. The on line bullying, reports in the media on faceboook and so on, are known to have contributed to the development of all kinds of unhelpful responses by those on the receiving end. VB has received a good deal of that kind of thing. I'd have hoped women who gave as much life experience as people old enough to join gransnet would be less likely to have a go at VB

Some think this family are immune from mockery and insults because they have money Iam

I have always heard that Victoria doesn't smile because she hates her teeth, which sounds quite reasonable to me.

Surely every one of us has, at some time, said or written something which we wouldn't want to be made public.