Jack Monroe #65 Green gages and ham

[Cuileann]

Little Miss Shan’t
It was a bright, sunny morning and Little Miss Shan’t woke up to an email from her agent. The email was asking her to apologise publicly to all the many people on Twitter she had been grumbling and saying bad things about. Little Miss Shan’t crossed her arms. ‘Shan’t!’ she said to her cat.

She went downstairs and thought about what she was going to eat for breakfast. A little voice inside her head suggested that she cook something with texture, and to perhaps not take eleventy poorly-constructed photos of it. Little Miss Shan’t stamped her foot. ‘Shan’t!’ she said to the delivery man, who was dropping off another box of books and a new nutribullet and a third hammock from John Lewis.

Little Miss Shan’t went to sit in her large, quiet garden. She smelt the faint tang of the nearby seafront and watched as a small bird ferried twigs to and from its nest. She gazed at her rather nice-looking house in the morning sun, and another little voice inside her head suggested that perhaps she feels grateful for all that she has, which is far more than many, many people do not have. Little Miss Shan’t pondered this novel notion. She bit into her teething necklace and frowned. ‘Shan’t!’ she grumbled into the folds of her Vivienne Westwood dress.

You are an ARTIST! This is fantastic

 

[Ninch55]

There's this very strange reverse snobbery about dishes - particularly dishes from other European countries. It's weird and disrespectful to go "ah well I'LL call it carbonara because what do Italians know anyway?" It's revelling in ignorance, and it reminds me of when someone goes "hi I'm Jorge" and the response is "oh well I'll call you George then" (I've had colleagues do this...).

I mentioned earlier that if you ordered fish and chips, and I gave you steamed salmon, you'd probably complain. Well, a Spanish person would complain about Jack's "tortilla". An Italian would complain about her carbonara, risotto, funeral pasta (remember that one?), mushroom and chocolate pasta sauce...

And it's not about being a snob or a purist. It's just that words have bleeping meanings. Again, you ask for shepherd's pie. I give you a dish with shredded chicken instead of minced lamb. Go ahead and say you were *inspired* by another country's cuisine, sure. But don't rob words of their meaning, and then be proud of it.

MUSHROOM AND WHAT?

 

[crystaleyesd]

So she’s writing this book in 40 days-and the world can look forward to her ‘raging’. Nobody’s interested in your temper tantrums Jack, is it just me or are others wondering just what qualifies her as a specialist in this area?

Oh FFS, she actually bloody thinks she's Jesus going into the wilderness to test himself doesn't she?

 

[FrumpyCat]

Oh FFS, she actually bloody thinks she's Jesus going into the wilderness to test himself doesn't she?

And with her background as a Sunday school teacher, she can hardly be unaware of the comparison.

 

[Heron1267]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already but what, if any, ethical safeguards has JM put into place for ‘researching’ her ‘book’ on poverty, and what, if anything, is she required to put in place?

She freely admits how difficult it is for her to recount her own time of hardship. I would actually be really interested in how this all works, snarking aside. During my MSc I did some research which involved contact with vulnerable people and there were some pretty tight safeguards - are people writing books subject to any ethical requirements or can you literally just crowdsource research participants (all from an extremely vulnerable group by the nature of the research) on twitter and publish that?

 

[Pocahontas]

So she’s writing this book in 40 days-and the world can look forward to her ‘raging’. Nobody’s interested in your temper tantrums Jack, is it just me or are others wondering just what qualifies her as a specialist in this area?
She lived in poverty for a short time a decade ago. She’s claiming to be ‘making notes’ from her extensive library & asking for people’s stories (who’s to say that these accounts are accurate or verified-she’s going to be researching the validity of claims on the side no doubt?) Anyone could massively exaggerate (cough, you know who) & she’ll be a laughing stock if it turns out that her fact checking is less than rigorous.
I suspect she’s struggling for food ideas, has pissed off a lot of people & is desperately trying to stay relevant in her chosen ‘field’. Her story is so bloody boring, it’s been done to death & it sounds as though she’ll just be using the work of others & ‘raging’.
I reckon she’s missing a trick, she could become a regular on the panto scene, wheeled out to do an uncle Albert ‘during the poverty’. All the kids could yawn & widow twanky or someone could make her disappear through a trapdoor.
I’d watch that.

I honestly thought she had signed off that tweet with, ‘ Hope you’re doing ok Tattle xxx’

‘Oh, we’re very well, thanks so Jack much for asking!’

 

[Bugger13]

Another thing I’ve just thought of is her constant assurances that accounts can be made anonymous. So you can basically say whatever you want & no doubt she’ll find it tricky to stick to verifiable facts given the ‘rage’.
So many parts of her own story don’t add up. I can well imagine some poor sod who gives her an honest but measured account of their hardship reading about themselves as some urchin, sobbing on the ground as they picked crumbs off the pavement & wondering how their story about needing to use a food bank a couple of times turned into that.
Obviously there are some terrible tales out there but I think Jack is the worst person to be presenting them. She’s known for exaggerating & rage. A balanced, razor sharp journalist would be a far more credible author.

 

[blurstoftimes]

If your reading list includes Chavs by Owen Jones are you really the person to be claiming expertise in the field .The book is going to be so outdated because she is only interested in discussing the time period in which *she* was poor. I personally think Jack is quite unintelligent, she doesn’t seem to possess critical thinking skills at all.

 

[FrumpyCat]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already but what, if any, ethical safeguards has JM put into place for ‘researching’ her ‘book’ on poverty, and what, if anything, is she required to put in place?

She freely admits how difficult it is for her to recount her own time of hardship. I would actually be really interested in how this all works, snarking aside. During my MSc I did some research which involved contact with vulnerable people and there were some pretty tight safeguards - are people writing books subject to any ethical requirements or can you literally just crowdsource research participants (all from an extremely vulnerable group by the nature of the research) on twitter and publish that?

do try to keep up. Her background as a former poor person and tireless campaigner speaks for itself . So what would be she needing with all that silly ethics and methodology nonsense?

 

[JuliaGulia]

Little Miss Shan’t
It was a bright, sunny morning and Little Miss Shan’t woke up to an email from her agent. The email was asking her to apologise publicly to all the many people on Twitter she had been grumbling and saying bad things about. Little Miss Shan’t crossed her arms. ‘Shan’t!’ she said to her cat.

She went downstairs and thought about what she was going to eat for breakfast. A little voice inside her head suggested that she cook something with texture, and to perhaps not take eleventy poorly-constructed photos of it. Little Miss Shan’t stamped her foot. ‘Shan’t!’ she said to the delivery man, who was dropping off another box of books and a new nutribullet and a third hammock from John Lewis.

Little Miss Shan’t went to sit in her large, quiet garden. She smelt the faint tang of the nearby seafront and watched as a small bird ferried twigs to and from its nest. She gazed at her rather nice-looking house in the morning sun, and another little voice inside her head suggested that perhaps she feels grateful for all that she has, which is far more than many, many people do not have. Little Miss Shan’t pondered this novel notion. She bit into her teething necklace and frowned. ‘Shan’t!’ she grumbled into the folds of her Vivienne Westwood dress.

Inspirational...
(with apologies for shaky font - lettering is not my thing, and I was giggling a bit)

 

[crystaleyesd]

Inspirational...
(with apologies for shaky font - lettering is not my thing, and I was giggling a bit)

HOOTING. This is fantastic. As is @Pocahontas writing! Put it in the thread crib sheet!

 

[IndigoStar]

@JuliaGulia & @Pocahontas - what an absolute HOOTING I am doing thanks to you both!

 

[MrsOgre]

Another thought on Jack's giant book collection. She says she has ptsd and it's destroyed all her relationships, ptsd can also affect concentration to read books. I have loads I want to read, some I've got halfway though but at the moment all I can manage is reading here. Also wouldn't autism and adhd affect concentration to read books too?

 

[Blurp]

I know loads of people who have books for their book case to prove a point, bug have in fact never read them. I have read all the ones in mine but I have been to peoples houses and saw an obscure book about a awkward subject and asked people " oh have you read it?" And they nearly always say not yet, I was told it was good but havent looked yet. Thats fine but nine times out of ten they will have similar books with a similar subject and yet will have not read them. It's all for show to their mates.

I come from two families of bookworms. I've got plenty of books I intend/intended to read or got halfway through and started another, etc. They're in every room in the house. Mind you, they're not in the Insta wankery colour order though, but by author/series/subject.

 

[Uberrima fides]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already but what, if any, ethical safeguards has JM put into place for ‘researching’ her ‘book’ on poverty, and what, if anything, is she required to put in place?

She freely admits how difficult it is for her to recount her own time of hardship. I would actually be really interested in how this all works, snarking aside. During my MSc I did some research which involved contact with vulnerable people and there were some pretty tight safeguards - are people writing books subject to any ethical requirements or can you literally just crowdsource research participants (all from an extremely vulnerable group by the nature of the research) on twitter and publish that?

She probably doesn't realise these safeguards should be in place, and her publisher possibly doesn't either. JM has no academic background, so this book will rely on her 'brand' of being a 'poverty' campaigner, even although she only campaigns for herself. Sadly, the fallout from Covid is coming along at the right time for this book. JM will make tv appearances (paid) and make good money from the book. There is unfortunately no interviewer who will state "but you were only on benefits for a short time".

 

[Pocahontas]

Inspirational...
(with apologies for shaky font - lettering is not my thing, and I was giggling a bit)

That is soooooo good!! The necklace! The hair! Lol.
Right, let’s team up and take our work to a publishing company. Which one is David Walliam’s?

 

[Captainmouse]

I am not sure if this has been discussed already but what, if any, ethical safeguards has JM put into place for ‘researching’ her ‘book’ on poverty, and what, if anything, is she required to put in place?

She freely admits how difficult it is for her to recount her own time of hardship. I would actually be really interested in how this all works, snarking aside. During my MSc I did some research which involved contact with vulnerable people and there were some pretty tight safeguards - are people writing books subject to any ethical requirements or can you literally just crowdsource research participants (all from an extremely vulnerable group by the nature of the research) on twitter and publish that?

Is GDPR, data protection relevant here? Will the contributors be anonymous, Thus preventing any authenticity checks? whilst allowing a complete dramatic fudge. Or will she identify them, and open them up to .......?

 

[Bugger13]

She probably doesn't realise these safeguards should be in place, and her publisher possibly doesn't either. JM has no academic background, so this book will rely on her 'brand' of being a 'poverty' campaigner, even although she only campaigns for herself. Sadly, the fallout from Covid is coming along at the right time for this book. JM will make tv appearances (paid) and make good money from the book. There is unfortunately no interviewer who will state "but you were only on benefits for a short time".

Yes, although I’m thinking it’ll be out of date as soon as it’s published (not only because her story is so old now, but also because things are going to develop over the coming months & even years due to Covid).
She could, of course, donate all the profits from this book to charity. She’s going to benefit career wise anyway, I’d have far more time for her if she put her money where her mouth is & did this. She can easily go without 40 days salary, given that she has regular income from Patreon, ads & the huge figures she’s been paid throughout lockdown...

 

[Lanie]

A

And with her background as a Sunday school teacher, she can hardly be unaware of the comparison.

That seems unaware of "judge not lest ye be judged" about people spending how they see fit. She's seems so against people with money. Alot of people with money actually work very hard for that money and should be allowed to spend it how try see fit. They don't need to disgruntled, fishwife standing in front of them spewing self induced jealous rage at them for living because she had a few rough months.

Most not all, but most people with money give to charity or support them in various ways and do so anonymously to ensure their charitable deeds do not take focus of the charity.

I am sure over the last few years she has had money or else she wouldn't have had been able to buy herself these expensive little treats, but I do wonder how much of it was given back? I don't know enough about her to comment but she should really just let people be and stick to getting the poverty stricken help by providing decent incentives and or guidance.

 

[MrsOgre]

Jack liked this post.
@Incywincy I love your determination