Tuesday 22 February 2011

NIMBYs On The Titanic

A couple of British home owners manage to push their way to the front of the life boat queue and are the first aboard. Once HO2 is aboard, HO1 casts off the lines and pushes the boat away from the sinking Titanic and starts rowing madly.

HO2; "Aren't there supposed to be 24 people in this boat?"

HO1: "No, there's only room for two, one at the front, on at the back. Shut up and get rowing."

HO2; "But if we leave now, then some of those people will drown."

HO1: "No they won't, there are plenty of life boats to go round, surely the White Star Line will have seen to that."

HO2: "No there aren't. I overheard to Captain admitting as much to Kate Winslett. And even if there were, they'd have budgeted for twenty four people in a boat."

H01: "Exactly. So some people are going to drown anyway, what do a few more matter? And look at it this way, we've paid for our ticket and our cruise holiday is ruined. I think the least we can expect is a bit of extra food while we wait to be rescued."

H02: "Oh look, there are some people in the water, just ahead of us, they seem to be in pain. Shall we not stop to pick them up, or else they'll surely drown?"

HO1: "Good grief, what are you thinking? Hard a-port or the blighters will scramble on board! Did I plant that iceberg? Did I ask them to jump in the water? No! So it's up to them to help themselves. They should have got into the queue in time."

HO2: "To be fair, we did push our way to the front a little bit, didn't we? There was that one little boy you pushed overboard."

H01: "Serves his feckless mother right for bringing children in to the world that she's not going to look after him properly. What was the slattern thinking of allowing a young child to run about at midnight? He should have been in bed."

H02: "True... it is an overcrowded planet. This younger generation is just so selfish, isn't it? But look, should we not stop to pick up a few survivors?"

H01: "No certainly not. Do you realise how crowded it is back in England? There's no room for any more people, not since all those Irish navvies came over, stealing our jobs and eating our food. Look at it this way - we're doing the rest of England a favour by thinning out the population. Think how much our food security will improve if there are a few thousand fewer people demanding that houses be built?"

H02: "If you put it like that... and I suppose it's nice to have a bit of space here in the boat. Do you fancy a biscuit? Plenty to go round!"

4 comments:

Steven_L said...

That's about it MW, but when the middle east goes up in flames, inflation shoots and daft yanks elect a madman that drives borrowing rate into double figures ...

Well, hmmmmmmmmmm, will I have much sympathy?

No, I just hope I'm short gvt bonds in time.

Span Ows said...

Can you eat gvt bonds? ;-)

P.S. Mark, the Titanic was on the way to the USA so these two in the boat were clearly pissed...or stupid, they'd be saving no space at all.

Mark Wadsworth said...

SL sympathy with whom?

SO, when SL says "short" what he means is "short selling", i.e. he profits if govt bonds go down in value.

Span Ows said...

haha...thanks Mark but I know that (although I'm not into the deatiled ins and outs of short selling etc) what I meant was that if and when the brownstuff really hits the fan (trouble brewing, revolutions abound, global food prices through the roof etc food riots not unlikely) he will need food not pieces of paper unless he trades them in for precious metals etc. I am of course exaggerating...but not much.