13 Years Ago Today.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Just a reminder of happier times. 13 years ago today Thatcher died. I wish I'd remembered sooner and I would have nipped down to Grantham and flicked the V's at her statue. 

[SuperBacon]

 

[Arch Stanton]

"Too bad... Too bad..."

 

 

[Tamura]

They thought it would be a good idea to show her funeral on a big screen in Leeds. They were wrong.

[davertfnewman]

My grandpa, who was a lifelong coal miner, hated her.

Mark Thomas once had something going on in her ailing days with options like:

1. Thatcher SHOULD have a state funeral

2. Thatcher SHOULDN'T have a state funeral

3. Thatcher SHOULD have a state funeral EVERY... FUCKING... DAY... until she gets the point

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Despite being a left winger from a coal mining family I didn't celebrate Thatchers death. To me she had died years before, all that died that day was a confused old woman. That wasnt worth celebrating to me. 

 

To be clear, Im not making any moral judgements here. If she had have died with her faculties intact Id have probably celebrated too.

[Just Some Guy]

Unless I've fallen for a wind up I found out today that #nowthatchersdead caused panic as people thought that Cher had died.

[Frankie Crisp]

And 13 years ago today, I had the greatest hangover of my life!

I'd taken the day off work as it was Wrestlemania the night before, so was already ahead of the rest when it came to getting to the boozer. I think I got to bed around 5am and didn't have any alarms set, but when I got up I'd already been ignoring my phone buzzing for what felt like hours but did so thinking it was someone in work trying to get hold of me, not knowing I was off. Checked the names of the missed calls/messages, however, and it was the most unrelated list of people - if it'd had been work people, makes sense. The Palace mates, maybe we'd sacked the gaffer. Family names, maybe someone had taken ill. But these names had no reason to all be contacting me. First one I chose to read was my cousin Alan, and his message just read 'Lol'. That actually gave me an inkling but I didn't want to get my hopes up; sixty seconds later having sped-read the other messages I was bombing it across the flat to put the telly on. Glorious. Just glorious.

First thing I did was ring my old man. He'd given retirement a go a couple of years earlier but wasn’t ready to give up doing stuff, so he had a part-time job he loved. He’d do two days a week and was given places to get the train to, to collect cars that had come to the end of their business lease. He adored it. Free transport across the country seeing great scenery, giving swanky cars a good check before getting the signature then driving it to its new owner or the lease company. Perfect little job for him.

Dad and I had a rule that we would never ring each other during working hours unless it was an emergency, so not to worry the other if the phone rang unexpectedly. This warranted a call.

“Okay son, is everything okay?”

I broke the news and after couple of seconds, he just said “I’ll ring you back in a minute”.

He was on his way to pick a car up near Hull but thankfully hadn’t arrived to start the inspection. He indeed rang me back just after - he’d rang his boss, pulled a sickie and was getting off at the next stop to start the journey home. He knew he’d be a while but also knew I wasn’t going to sit on my hands waiting for him to meet me in town.

After a detour to the local shop to get a bottle of champagne, I went into my local. It was empty. Everyone was in work. Losers.

Ordered my pint and as Neil was pouring it, he asked who the champagne was for, or if I was celebrating. He clearly hadn’t heard. Five minutes later we were half a bottle down and he was having the shift of his life. The few people who came in over the next hour or two got the best barman to ever exist.

The next few hours were great as I worked my way through more places - just complete strangers in every street and boozer in town celebrating, hugging and understanding how monumental it was that she’d carked it. 

By the time my old man bounced into the boozer late afternoon, me, our Alan, my mate Ben and a few others were halfway to the moon. Whilst there were plenty of moments in conversation that got deep and emotional as to how she’s destroyed the lives of friends, family and strangers, the night was mainly positive with an air of solidarity, relief and vindication.

Our Al left around 10ish to meet some mates but was later seen online on St. George’s Hall steps dancing with a load of lads who clearly got the memo. Pyrotechnics were involved. Made the local papers.

My old man got the last train home but it was a hug and a half he gave me as I left him. I lived about 15 mins away from Lime Street so thought I’d have one or two more on the walk home before calling it a day as I was due back in work the next day.

Got home around 6am having done three turns of Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead on Karaoke in The Grapes on Mathew Street, during which I booked emergency annual leave. For anyone who knows that neck of the woods, it’s usually very similar to where Thatcher was on her way to, but that night, it was nothing but brilliant.

I know a lot of people are of the opinion of ‘but she was an old lady’, ‘she was someone’s mum’, ‘you shouldn’t celebrate someone’s death’ and so on. 

Fuck that. She was one of the exceptions.

Ruined millions of lives and ended more than can be quantified. It wasn’t a byproduct of her mindset, it was an intention. An evil piece of shit, no regard for the working class, even less regard for human life and a trigger for a wave of selfish capitalists who have gone on to worsen society in recent decades but is eulogised as having a positive legacy.

I’m glad she’s dead. I just wish her policies and ideals died with her.

[davertfnewman]

'She was someone's mom.'

If we're kind, she was Carol's. If we're unkind, she was Mark's.

[Arch Stanton]

 

 

[Jazzy G]

https://www.threads.com/@therunnerscentre/post/DZmUtZHDHoF?xmt=AQG0iUt2t8tl0RMOHlQjpX0rci4-yXXaxxCBAUlC1R01r_WTirbZefqG7qjbAN6D2Kk859xZ&slof=1