Jack Monroe #155 What a sad little life, Jack

[Five hundred dogs]

Im not on Twitter so I don’t really know, but the feeling I get about that “eating lunch with your English teacher” tweet is that it’s origin is the American young, woke crowd. It has that trying to make more out of something than it actually is feeling about it, if anyone understands what I mean . Very much up Jack’s street.

I’ve often stood in for famous actors on stage for setting the lights. Does that make me an international movie star?

 

[Flivver]

Off on a bit of a tangent but did anyone else hear the interview of Camilla Batmaghelichdjh on Women's Hour today on R4? She was another one who took not only charity money but government money (and loads of it) and made it disappear through her charity Kids Company by questionable and unrecorded means. Its fascinating to read about while our Jackie is on a break. I don't know what to make of it but Camilla was excellent at not answering any of the questions asked.

ETA made it made sense

Yes, I listened to it.

She was very confrontational - wasn’t she? Skilfully avoided answering the questions!

Someone with powerful mates.

I haven’t changed my opinion of her or the charity.

 

[LennyBriscoe]

I live next to a river, can I put 'Part-Time Otter' in my Bio?
Because dressing for the job you want, not the job you have would be great.

That would be “otter-ly” ridiculous

(Jokes, it would be amazing)

 

[L3moning]

I live next to a river, can I put 'Part-Time Otter' in my Bio?
Because dressing for the job you want, not the job you have would be great.

That might get you unwanted attention from some gay men, given the alternative meaning of the word "otter".

 

[TurnedUpInTipp]

That might get you unwanted attention from some gay men, given the alternative meaning of the word "otter".

I am aware of the Bears but have no clue about the Otters!

 

[DinosaurSenior]

That might get you unwanted attention from some gay men, given the alternative meaning of the word "otter".

What?! I did not know about this....

 

[Wonderalice6]

View attachment 454382View attachment 454381
Big day for Jack today! She’s made it into Fail Blog, which was - for some reason - a suggested post for me today on Facebook! All about humblebrags.

Saw this last night and had a little chuckle we can’t all be so humble and change so many lives

 

[MaineCoonMama]

I am aware of the Bears but have no clue about the Otters!

I'm too scared too google. Not after the shock I got looking for happy bears once.

 

[Five hundred dogs]

While Jack is a lying grifter I think Camilla Batmaghelichdjh is actually quite dangerous. She’s extremely charismatic and dynamic, she can dazzle people into following her, she’s got the same kind of personality type as successful cult leaders. Fortunately for the world Jack is far too lazy, whiney and dull for many people to get behind her.

 

[Orphan_Black]

While Jack is a lying grifter I think Camilla Batmaghelichdjh is actually quite dangerous. She’s extremely charismatic and dynamic, she can dazzle people into following her, she’s got the same kind of personality type as successful cult leaders. Fortunately for the world Jack is far too lazy, whiney and dull for many people to get behind her.

Jim Jones could at least get a pitcher of Kool-Aid ready in time...

 

[Harrybosch]

The thing with the foodbank visits is that I don't care how often she needed to visit. It;s not the use of the foodback that is problematic with her. My problem is that she's milking that story for her own gain, and is prone to hamming things up for effect. And if indeed it was only once as implied it's a frigging disgrace the media keep making her the face of foodbank users. It's lazy journalism already to keep wheeling her out, the middle class bootstrapper, so palatable for Torygraph readers.

Well said.

There are also other issues with he foodbank use that are problematic, namely that she seemingly never really needed to use one at all. This can be treacherous ground and I don't want anyone to mistake me for a Tory nutjob, so this may be long.

In the early threads here there were several posters who suggested she could have always had help from mum and dad. At the time, many of us (me included) said this was unfair and we didn't know whether she was estranged plus benefits don't work that way. You either are entitled to them based on your situation or not and that's quite right and fair (assuming that the system is fair, which of course it isn't, but that's not really the point here).

Anyway, over the course of studying for my honorary double doctorate in Monroe-studies, I've come to the conclusion that my initial defense of her was wrong. I don't know if her family are loaded, wealthy, or just 'ok', but from everything that has been dug up on her, it is clear that at no point was she estranged from her family and that her family's financial situation seems to have been comfortable enough to feed and quite possibly house her and her son. Not using that option was a choice she made. I don't have an issue with her making that choice, but the fact that she has built her entire career on pretending she didn't have that choice is wrong.

She says so much in what she leaves out of her story and relies on her dear readers to fill in the gaps. I, like many others, used to fill in the gaps with what was implied but never stated (father of her child abandoned them, family didn't care, etc.). She is a skilled liar and manipulator. That's what she should put in her bio.

 

[Five hundred dogs]

I'm too scared too google. Not after the shock I got looking for happy bears once.

Otters are in the same ball (sorry ) park as gay bears, they’re their smaller, neater, slenderer cousins.

 

[Theodore]

I’m currently looking for a “significant otter”

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

If she’s ex fire service by proxy of her retired father why doesn’t she add multi property landlord to her bio too...

 

[MooBelle]

While Jack is a lying grifter I think Camilla Batmaghelichdjh is actually quite dangerous. She’s extremely charismatic and dynamic, she can dazzle people into following her, she’s got the same kind of personality type as successful cult leaders. Fortunately for the world Jack is far too lazy, whiney and dull for many people to get behind her.

Nail on the head with 'cult'
I have had the misfortune of meeting Camila Batmanghelidjh a couple of times, years ago when her 'charity' was up and running.
She was horrible. Very Narcissistic/God complex. Her staff were almost all volunteers with very few paid a salary and they were all devoted to her. It was creepy, just like a cult.
At one meeting it was literally like she was holding court and if there was an dissent or questions the person was waved away and her devotees would remove them from the room.
My then boss described her followers as 'it is like they've been groomed to love her'
No one was surprised when all the scandal came out and they went bust. She was protected by some very high up people and I doubt we'll ever hear the whole story.

 

[Blurp]

I've a photo somewhere of me sitting in the pilot's seat of an RAF Nimrod on patrol when they kindly let me have a go at doing a few turns (the co-pilot was in real control!). By Jack's standard, I'm an experienced pilot; I've already done more bloody firefighting than her in two days on a course.

 

[Lanie]

Well said.

There are also other issues with he foodbank use that are problematic, namely that she seemingly never really needed to use one at all. This can be treacherous ground and I don't want anyone to mistake me for a Tory nutjob, so this may be long.

In the early threads here there were several posters who suggested she could have always had help from mum and dad. At the time, many of us (me included) said this was unfair and we didn't know whether she was estranged plus benefits don't work that way. You either are entitled to them based on your situation or not and that's quite right and fair (assuming that the system is fair, which of course it isn't, but that's not really the point here).

Anyway, over the course of studying for my honorary double doctorate in Monroe-studies, I've come to the conclusion that my initial defense of her was wrong. I don't know if her family are loaded, wealthy, or just 'ok', but from everything that has been dug up on her, it is clear that at no point was she estranged from her family and that her family's financial situation seems to have been comfortable enough to feed and quite possibly house her and her son. Not using that option was a choice she made. I don't have an issue with her making that choice, but the fact that she has built her entire career on pretending she didn't have that choice is wrong.

She says so much in what she leaves out of her story and relies on her dear readers to fill in the gaps. I, like many others, used to fill in the gaps with what was implied but never stated (father of her child abandoned them, family didn't care, etc.). She is a skilled liar and manipulator. That's what she should put in her bio.

I don't know, but I get the impression that when she left her job her parents weren't happy, in a similar way my mum wouldn't have been because when our parents were younger there wasn't the option to not work when you had a family somebody had to do it as benefits were nonexistent.

So the fact she had walked out of a job with not a pot to piss in probably rattled their chains and she most likely got told in the heat of it it was her mess and she was going to have to sort it and she will never cope.

This of course all turned out to be true but rather than admit she fucked up she kept it quiet in order to save face. That's the impression I get anyway. I have absolutely no doubt if she wen home and told her parents she fucked up that they wouldn't have helped her if not just for her kid.

 

[moosesauna]

I've a photo somewhere of me sitting in the pilot's seat of an RAF Nimrod on patrol when they kindly let me have a go at doing a few turns (the co-pilot was in real control!). By Jack's standard, I'm an experienced pilot; I've already done more bloody firefighting than her in two days on a course.

I distinctly remember having a picture of 7 year old moosesauna in the main cabin of an old ship - does this make me an 1800s ship Captain and a child prodigy?

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Nail on the head with 'cult'
I have had the misfortune of meeting Camila Batmanghelidjh a couple of times, years ago when her 'charity' was up and running.
She was horrible. Very Narcissistic/God complex. Her staff were almost all volunteers with very few paid a salary and they were all devoted to her. It was creepy, just like a cult.
At one meeting it was literally like she was holding court and if there was an dissent or questions the person was waved away and her devotees would remove them from the room.
My then boss described her followers as 'it is like they've been groomed to love her'
No one was surprised when all the scandal came out and they went bust. She was protected by some very high up people and I doubt we'll ever hear the whole story.

Attended a talk by her and she speaks of vulnerable children in the same way Jack does tbh, like patronising and very inappropriate. It was quite uncomfortable and it did strike me as a little odd because usually people from “social care” (dunno if that’s the right word soz?) backgrounds have such a better vocab for describing issues kids may face from all their ongoing training? I’d assumed it was because she was ultimately just a rich woman with a charity pet project speaking to people she wanted donations / ongoing partnerships from but yeah not surprised to hear that!

 

[waffle maker]

I’ve often stood in for famous actors on stage for setting the lights. Does that make me an international movie star?

Yes, absolutely.