Without intending to, I unwittingly threw a spanner in the works on the Waterscape Official Farcebook Group the other day… Blimey, it’s certainly livened things up a bit on there…!
I had a look through & it was clear that complaints about problems on the canal system were starting to creep in albeit the odd thing here & there people have come across. I innocently thought I’d widen the horizons a bit & bring to light the appalling state of the locks round here by posting 3 links to reports I’d done. One was “Water wastage British Waterways style.” The other one was the “Cyclists on the towpath now getting priority over boaters” & I also put a link to my “What a load of twaddle” post about Debbie Lumb’s cloud cuckoo land speech. Which also (more importantly), contains 2 further links to photographic evidence of the sorry state of the Leeds Liverpool & Rufford Branch…
I was accused of trying to promote my blog, I explained that I didn’t need to, that wasn’t my intention, photographs speak volumes & words speak for themselves, provided they’re factual…
People jumped in (excuse pun) left right & centre, mostly other boaters in defence of what I was saying. [Thank you boaty pals for your support] But I was surprised, nay, gobsmacked at the small number of aggressive people on there determined to make an argument. So I stood my ground (as did others amongst us). It’s like a door was opened on reality & some of the “regulars” on there not only turned a blind eye to our concerns but were downright nasty…
One of my boaty pals warned me not to bother with Waterscape Official – I should’ve listened…
First of all Odette Williamson (admin) threatened to block me for posting “unsuitable material for this group” she actually mentioned that twice…
Words that went unspoken: Well excuse me for sounding thick but this is Waterscape right, not “Women's Weekly magazine?” (No I didn’t say that – really). Then a nasty piece of work called Diane Richardson (yes you’ve been outed luv) started getting all personal about my blog. This was after she’d moaned about having nothing to read at work…
One of the non-boaters mentioned there “being a lot of angry people on here.” I think assertiveness from a few of us boaters was translated as poking them with a stick. Considering there’s over 900 members, there’s not many people ever post anything, perhaps they daren’t!! I got the impression that it turned into a boaters VS non-boaters argument. Like they had no idea what we were saying & even that we were exaggerating things. It was all quite bizarre really. As for bikers on the towpath, well that went down like a lead balloon which gave me the impression they were all a team of towpath bikers, very clicky, all 6 of them…
Somebody mentioned I was being very negative. Well on the subject of poor canal maintenance, & how it’s heart breaking to see the deterioration like we do, it isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs is it…? Especially when it wasn’t taken seriously…
I set off only trying to highlight the problems to those who obviously weren’t aware, not in a patronising way, in a factual way. Turns out they didn’t want to open their eyes. I know deep down that dialogue won’t make a scrap of difference to the situation, but there’s always hope that someone with a bit of clout might listen & show some interest…
The same person who said I was being negative also accused me of sounding like I hated the canal system & being a bit sad. Ha! Me sad?? No, just realistic…
So this morning I tried to hold out an olive branch, said if I had to explain who the real me is I’d have to write a book, so instead I put a link to the blog, mentioned that was the “real me” & that I hoped Odette wouldn’t ban me from the site for putting another link in…
Then Diane Richardson, (that’s the one who’s bored at work) jumped in with: “How about posting some more beautiful photos of the canals, then? those on here who sit in offices during the week, deal with controversial and difficult subjects or people, etc. would appreciate a break, something to enthuse about, lift the spirits, and distract from the tedium and strain of such - at least at the weekend.”
Me: “Are links to blog posts ok? It's just easier as I don't get much spare time to sift through & you'll have an amusing running commentary?”
Diane’s retort: “No thanks, I saw a lot of very personal invective in there v. particular people, which you would be encouraging others to read - the style's not for me. And, that would be more blog links, contrary to what was asked.”
Definition of invective = Abusive / Insulting
Me: “OK, I don't really want to post blog links on here anyway, I don't do self promo or for anyone else. Forgive me for saying so but unless you class my BW related reports (which I wouldn't post on here anymore altho it has livened things up a bit). I don't do abusive language or insulting content on my blog. We have some very good friends round here & share lots of banter. Not blowing my own trumpet it also has a lot of readers, & I've never heard anyone call it abusive or have a bad word to say about it. I could easily take that as an insult but it's not worth it..”
[Sounds like she is that difficult controversial person she mentioned, I mean all that griping about those around her must sound just wonderful to her work colleagues] Perhaps one of them is Robing Evans…
And if that’s “invective,” apologies if she’s on anyone’s friends list. But that’s my experience of trying to hold a decent conversation with her. So I gave up…
