Ed here. Ben was invited to take part in this evening's Channel 5 News. It was a last minute rush but do-able. The taxi turned up on time and Ben arrived at the station to buy a ticket but with not enough cash on him to do so. The guy in the ticket office refused to accept a card payment over the phone - First Great Western.
Not wanting to risk getting on without a valid ticket Ben had to go back home. Had the Cooperative Bank not turned down his application for a bank account for no reason, had he not been refused JSA, also for no reason, and had the guy in the train ticket office not been so unreasonable we would all be seeing him again to telly this evening!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What a shame!Would have liked to have seen him make a fool out of himself yet again.Maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteJealousy will get you nowhere, though I note your bilious hatred got you a job in the prison service. Well done, thanks for popping by, petty digs always entertain the more intelligent of us!
ReplyDeleteQuestion, though. Why is it that screws were always too afraid to verbally go toe to toe with me in person, but now I am free they just can't seem to let me go from their lives? How sad is that...?
I think it worth remembering - they CHOSE prison - that's definitely not a good start.
DeleteReally?! Can't recall having that conversation with myself before I lost the plot and killed.
DeleteMost crims don't "choose" prison because before they do their thing they believe they won't be caught.
As ever, Anon, your view is remarkably similar to page one of the "Con Haters Bible", or the POA Diary as you know it.....
Ben - Different Anon. And I mean't the POs CHOOSE prison - they are relatively unlikely to be 'normal'!
DeleteBen, have followed today's sorry goings on with a growing sense of disappointment.
DeleteI had hoped that your blog might actually provide some insight into why prison isn't really working; it seems though that you are allowing yourself to be drawn into a daily slanging match with some bloggers who may or may not be prison staff, this in turn invites counter slagging from other bloggers who may or may not be ex cons. Either way the net result is just a noisy bun fight.
I accept that you hold some firmly held beliefs about prison staff ( whether they're right or not doesn't matter, the fact is they're your views and you're entitled to them) , but - for the sake of actually turning this blog into something worthwhile- why not post a new strand that draws a line under your time in prison and starts to turn the focus towards what comes after prison.
That gives everyone a chance to contribute without feeling the need to continually rake over the past cos that seems to be achieving bugger all for all concerned
Cynic-Al
Um, again with suggestions as to what I should write.... Leave the blog to me. You focus on posting comments relevant and without a single sly dig.
DeleteThis is where I leave this particular bun fight for now.
Ok Ben, I'll leave it to you. Am sure you must be thrilled to bits with direction it's headed in. Like I said, it's getting as stale as an old supper bun!! .. Yeah, that was a sly dig, although I don't believe there were any in my previous post..
DeleteCynic-Al
You can check the cost of train tickets online now.
DeleteI hate people wasting their own time...
you should be using it wisely :) it's not like you haven't anything to do :)
Godammit you could've been on telly!
I hear what you say. The bklog has previously been a haven for rather thoughtful comments and musings and no, do not appreciate the current threads.
DeleteBut I spent 32 years struggling to have the ability to say my piece and I detest censorship. Which is why I have never opted for commend moderation (short of libel!). And I would be loath to do it now.
As ever, I leave it to other readers to moderate, by ignoring the blatant trollery. And in allowing the screws currently popping in to spill their hatred only highlights the difference between them and myself - they banned me from their blog, remember?
Nothing is set in stone for the future, but for now - sit back and enjoy the fighting.
Fair play Ben ... Cynic -Al (aka Gaz )
DeleteAnon. For someone who doesn't like Ben, his politics, most of the posters on this blog or 'vermin' in general, you do spend an extraordinary amount of time trolling the very thing you profess to hate.
ReplyDeleteChuck MaCaber
Fail to go toe to toe etc-so you say.I suspect that with your confrontational manner-there have been many toe to toes.Perhaps I may have done so,I know & you do not! Either way,you were locked up for (& I say it again) 3 decades. Why should anybody listen to you or your distorted beliefs,though I will say that there are some extremely short sighted people posting on here with a misguided sense of loyalty.
ReplyDeleteAh, there were arguments alright - and the fastest brain usually won. That's when the heavy mob got their steel toecaps on for an attempt at "attitude adjustment"....
DeleteYou don't need to repeat the "3 decades" thing, its neither a secret nor particularly relevant to anything I say.
Posterity will note your inability to challenge any particular point I have made, just reverted to the usual sly dig. Please stick around......
Steel toe caps are not/have not ever been allowed to be worn by Staff.If the 'heavy mob' became involved-it's because you became incalcitrant & deserved everything you got for not complying with instructions.You would have made that choice whether to comply or not so you were guilty of your own actions.Take some responsibility & not blame others for your misgivings!
ReplyDeleteYou are joking, right? That screws never ever give a con a kicking?
DeleteBlimey, that's a prison system I seemed to miss...... Either you are quite mad, totally blind, or so up yourself that you live in complete denial of reality. And as you patrol the landings, any of those is quite worrying! :)
Still, pleased to see your hanging around here. I'm unemployed, what's your excuse?
you seem a very bitter old man anon...have you ever thought about getting a hobby instead of trolling?
DeleteRight. Yes. And by the same token, if I get mugged, refuse to hand over my wallet and then get stabbed, that's my fault too? Anon, read back what you just wrote from the perspective of an outsider will you ><
DeleteI read the comment by annon at 5.21, as suggesting that because prison officers choose prison, that is a bad start (as opposed to prisoners choosing prison)..
ReplyDeleteannoyed at the coop for not letting you have a bank a/c. any luck with the NI number yet? could the interview be conducted by skype?
Read & understand my post @5.34pm. Take some responsibility for your own actions. You'll always be u/e as who in their right mind is going to offer you gainful employment WITH responsibility? By the way I'm quite sane & get paid for my time on duty-no need for you to worry at all.My conceience is quite clear!
ReplyDeleteAnon,
DeleteHave you actually read any of this blog?? Try this one: http://prisonerben.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-proper-job.html
As for you having a clear conceience (sic), I have no doubt as you probably don't have a conscience in the first place.
Chuck
Oh dear. This is so wrong-headed as to be laugh out loud funny. Seriously, you lot should do at least some basic fact checking before you post. Like Chuck says, perhaps read the last couple of weeks worth of posts to check whether you're going to end up looking like a complete tit, or just a tit.
DeleteThis is the kind of sick, maladjusted moron the average con has to try and avoid on a daily basis.
ReplyDelete@ Darby & you seem to be a stereotypical,disruptive,confrontational,delinquent ex con who has a massive chip on his shoulder & just wants to provoke an argument. Jog on fella!
ReplyDeleteSlither back to the screws site.
DeleteHi Ben, I say good on you and all that you are doing. That is a real shame that you can't be on the news again tonight. Can't they reschedule or do the interview by Skype? As they say, "where there's a will......."
ReplyDeleteAs you have not disputed my appraisal of you,I can only summise that what I said is true.The truth often hurts-so go forth & multiply,on second thoughts don't do that as there are enough feral kids around. C YA!
ReplyDeleteI refer you to my post above...
DeleteI'm still laughing at the po not being allowed steel caps
ReplyDeleteNext time Ben get the production manager of the TV co. to buy you a ticket for collection at your local railway station. First class. That's if you have enough of the right sort of id for the jobsworth on the ticket desk!
ReplyDeleteBen, I don't know where you are living, but it may be worth approaching the local Credit Union and opening a Current Account with them? It costs £1.50 a week, but they ask for far less ID, and do other checks to secure your ID.
ReplyDeleteThe account is with - ironically - the Cooperative bank, though it is run by the Credit Union.
Ignoring the trolling screws...
ReplyDeleteBen, the Co-Op is notoriously strict with ID, I tried them first (as I prefer a bank to avoid using my money to deal in arms sales and the like) and failed horribly
Lloyds otoh I was able to open it online with no ID at all, you might give them a try
If Ben wants a job more than he wants Jobseekers Allowance, the government is quite likely to elect him Former Prisoner of the Year. When I applied for JSA after my release I was refused on the ground of excessive savings/capital (poor old bugger) but what annoyed me is that they never gave me a categorical refusal. Meantime I applied for housing benefit because I was required by the terms of my life licence to live in a rather expensive probation hostel. I had a nasty surprise when I received a letter asking me to repay the provisional housing benefit that had been awarded me because I had subsequently been refused JSA. I had to forget any idea of applying for half-decent jobs and jump into whatever dirty work was available. The brighter side is that if you register as unemployed you should get a free National Insurance credit even if you are refused JSA. I am now retired, that's my excuse, Ben!
ReplyDeleteBen, hard as it may be I think you need to either moderate comments, or ignore the trolling. The post comments are turning into long, simple slanging matches which bear no relevance to the topic of the Posts.
ReplyDeleteBen, i went to visit my friend in HMP send yesterday, she aaid she saw you on tv,and you came across as intelegent. She also mentioned that it was good to see an ex-con giving an interview. As sick of so called self appointed experts who have never been in prison giving their opinion. She said you spoke well. She is out soon too.
ReplyDeleteHi to your friend, and I do hope she does well on her release :)
DeleteThe whole information that you provide is really useful and great and also the collection and facts are absolutely great to see!
ReplyDeletebail bonds orlando fl
I really liked this part of the article, with a nice and interesting topics have helped a lot of people who do not challenge things people should know... you need more publicize this so many people who know about it are rare for people to know this, Success for you..
ReplyDelete