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Village idiots?


Anakena
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Have you been mentioned on the bill/in a squad act?  

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  1. 1. Have you been mentioned on the bill/in a squad act?

    • Yes
      18
    • No
      21
    • Using individuals for UHA/FF satire is morally wrong
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Lets be clear on this; the committee of uha in lerwick have always been jealous of the fact that they are not from scalloway; they recognise that it is trully the centre of the universe, and we should take their comment as a compliment, in acknowledging the clear superiority of the scalloway race, and all they can do is have a jibe at it once a year, on what was the most boring and insipid bill for years.

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I wasn't there personally, but heard from a friend that there was a several xenophobic comments (ie anti-toonie) bandied about at the public meeting in Scalloway re the proposed closure, and there were certainly a number of comments in a similar vein on the proposed closure topic on this forum. So if you give, you have to learn to take in return...

The UHA Bill is what it is, and most of the people referred to on it accept it in the spirit in which it was written - a lighthearted (albeit not always funny) dig at events that have gone on over the last year (that is pretty quickly forgotten about).

Doesn't Scalloway have one then? I'm pretty certain it would be similar if it does?! (And no, I wouldn't get my knickers in a twist about it).

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Will the AHS really need any more village idiots?

 

"more" is the key word here, as it implies that there are a few idiots in the AHS already.

 

Lets be honest here, it is a fairly tame statement on what is usualy a fairly tame (and boring) UHA bill.

The country Fire Festival bills, and squad acts, are usually far worse, and legal action has been threatened on more than one occasion as a result.

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Will the AHS really need any more village idiots?

 

"more" is the key word here, as it implies that there are a few idiots in the AHS already.

 

 

No, what it implies is there are already idiots from Scalloway, and that any more of these Scalloway "village idiots" are not welcome.

 

At the risk of contradicting myself, as this is aimed at children, this would have been better left off the bill.

 

"Guy Fawkes" makes a valid point. Lampoon adults who can defend themselves by all means, leave children out of supposedly satirical criticism.

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No, what it implies is there are already idiots from Scalloway, and that any more of these Scalloway "village idiots" are not welcome.

 

You might see it that way, and you are entitled to your opinion, but I see it as a bit of harmless banter and there seems to be a lot of mountains being built out of mole hills.

 

The Yarl attended the Scalloway School, and I am pretty sure he wouldn't deliberately belittle any children who are currently receiving their education there.

 

If you feel so strongly about it, I suggest you approach the UHA committee for an explanation or an apology.

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Beachcaster,

 

Would you agree that the bill should have read "Will the AHS really need any more idiots?" (ie without the "village") if they were writers were implying that there were idiots already there? The fact that they didn't shows that they felt pupils from Scalloway deserved to be called idiots.

 

"Banter" is off the cuff, spontaneous, spoken communication. Writing and painting the bill is, or should be, a considered act with time to think through the consequences of what is being written. The defending argument that it is "only banter" does not hold water when there was plenty of time to think about the text on the bill.

 

Putting the message on the bill was a reprehensible action, especially as at least one of the yarl squad is a current pupil at Scalloway School.

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Siccar, if I was a fish I'd most likely be a Carp, always carping on about stuff. Read in the cold light of day my original post seems a bit of a PC rant, It wasn't intended as such and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

I would just like to point out that a bit of harmless banter between grown ups can often result in burst noses and broken ribs when tribalistic hormone ridden fifteen year olds sling the same insults at each other. Think of the strife between Lerwick and Brae youngeens of several years back or the Scalloway and Burra versus The Anthill Mob war of the mid to late 1970s when Lerwick teenagers couldn't risk going to a disco in Scalloway and Scalloway teenagers couldn't walk ower Da Street for fear of being attacked. There's always been a bit of teenage rivalry between different areas in Shetland and perhaps there always will be but its pretty sad when grown men who should know better start handing out the ammunition boxes.

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I am afraid I will have to disagree with you again jz.

 

There are many definitions of "village idiot" and an "ordinary" idiot, but as in most cases, it is not the word that is derogatory, but the context that it is used in.

I feel that in this context it was nothing more than a bit of light hearted banter, which by the way is not confined to the spoken word as you claim, as there are a lot of posts on Shetlink which were can be described as light hearted banter, but were obviously well thought out before the poster hit the submit button.

 

Getting back to the definition of an idiot, you could have someone who is extremely intelligent, but does idiotic things, and would therefore be described as an idiot. As Forrest Gump said, "stupid is what stupid does"

 

Lerwick might be the biggest settlement in Shetland, and although we call it a town, a lot of people from the Mainland would call it a village, so that could lump everybody in Shetland with the potential to be classed as a village idiot.

 

You also have to remember that Scalloway School was not the only school threatened with closure, so to claim that the statement was aimed squarely at Scalloway pupils doesn't hold water.

 

I would like to add that I went to the Scalloway school for 4 years and I am 100% against its closure. I have nothing to do with the UHA, so my views are not clouded by some sort of loyalty to the UHA.

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Lerwick might be the biggest settlement in Shetland, and although we call it a town, a lot of people from the Mainland would call it a village, so that could lump everybody in Shetland with the potential to be classed as a village idiot.

 

You also have to remember that Scalloway School was not the only school threatened with closure, so to claim that the statement was aimed squarely at Scalloway pupils doesn't hold water.

I don't think that is the case. My understanding is that the use of the word village does indeed refer to Scalloway. Scalloway residents very commonly use the term, usually as "The Village," on the basis that for a long time Lerwick was the only town and the other communities, having no main streets, were settlements rather than villages. I don't think I've encountered other places in Shetland being called villages, despite the growth of Brae, Waas, Sandwick etc.

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Beachcaster,

 

Thank you for your detailed and carefully considered response. However, I'm also afraid we are going to still disagree on this.

 

"Idiot" by whatever definition is derogatory. The term "village" or "the village" is widely understood to mean Scalloway in Shetland. I have never heard anyone refer to Lerwick as a village. Indeed, the range of services and functions that exist in Lerwick (e.g. local government offices, port, shops, churches and leisure facilities) far exceed what would be found in any village on the UK mainland. Lerwick is not a village.

 

With regard to the other schools that have been identified for possible closure, as they are all primary schools it is only Scalloway School pupils that will be affected by going to AHS. If any of the primary schools were to close the pupils would transfer to another primary and not the AHS.

 

The clear intention of the bill message was to take a dig at the secondary pupils at Scalloway School (and the ex Scalloway pupils in S5 and S6 at the AHS) in order to make a weak joke. Not responding to it may have been a valid option, but I feel it is justifiable to critcise the authors of the bill for an insensitive attack on the young people at Scalloway.

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