"Hey You!"


The young men from Flintshire County Council have been cutting the grass in the Churchyard all day
I have spent the 4 hours  preparing all of the vegetable beds prior to planting out
One of the workmen called over to me as I was digging
"Is your name Stan?" he asked cheerfully
"No it bloody well isn't!" I called back
Apparently he thought I looked like a pub landlord  he used to know
I felt like shit
according to this guy
 I now look old enough to be a STAN
oh BOLLOCKS!

38 comments:

  1. Have you ever thought that if your name was Stanislav it would sound rather exciting and mysterious, whereas if you are called Stanley it is just old fashioned? I wonder why.

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  2. I'll think about that Ethel!

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  3. Anonymous2:57 pm

    No way are you a Stan, John. Maybe an Alex or a Michael but never a Stan.

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  4. It could have been worse. It could have been Stanly!

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  5. LMAO, when I first opened up your post, I thought it said "Flintstone" at first glance ! Surely you can't be looking as old as the "stone age" peeps ! LOL ... however I do prefer the name John, to Stan, with no offense to any Stans out there.

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  6. Maybe he needed new glasses (you surely do not look like a Stan)... course, I wouldn't want to think who I looked like after four hours of gardening. Not sure there's a name for that at all.

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  7. Wasn't Stan the slim one of the two in Laurel and Hardy and wasn't he, by all acounts, in real life the more intelligent of the two?

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  8. So not only do you look like a Stan, you look like a pub landlord. Horror of horrors! Still, at least he didn't see you as a Cedric or a Horace.

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  9. I retired after nearly 40 years as a gardener but it was the first 4 hours that did most damage to my appearance. I believe you can continue without ill effect.

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  10. I know a very gorgeous young ex marine called Stan! xx

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  11. Hey, but you scrub up real good!
    Jane x

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  12. Who knows, Stan may be a VERY handsome, kindhearted soul with lots of money and in his early forties....

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  13. Have a smile for a Stanley....
    This is a poem written by Cyril Tawney who is a favourite with the Royal
    Navy.

    STANLEY THE RAT

    Stanley was a rat and a fast one at that
    From bulkhead to bulkhead in four seconds flat
    One flashing run and his visit is done
    Stan never lingers to join in the fun

    When does he doze, nobody knows
    Night and day he keeps on his toes
    But he would sleep for ever and ever
    If we had a high pressured hose

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  14. Anonymous5:28 pm

    it happens to the best (and worst) of us John!!!! I remember the first time, as a young mother, a "bag boy" at the grocery called me ma'am! I felt about 150!

    BTW haven't put up a weight in ages 'cause I gained back the little I lost! I need a nice little farm to take care of like you have! then I'd have to exercise whether I felt like it or not ;-)

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  15. Stan the man instead of Van the man! any help?

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  16. OK! Who did you know named Stan in your past? And why the aversion?

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  17. Oh no, I posted a comment and it disappeared. Sorry if it comes through twice. Re your Stan episode: Until recently, while we lived in Kenya, I had a twenty-something gardener called Stanley and I loved him to bits. I shortened his name to "Stan the ma" Apart from learning to garden quickly from me, and then doing it dilligently (not normal in Africa) he also looked after our Sudanese-born, ex South African cat, Shadow all day in the garden. No wonder I miss dear Stan. BTW, you remind me of a very good and handsome forty-something friend of ours, called John, so I think of you as anything else but John! Hope that makes you feel better? Jo

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  18. Sorry, typo: I meant to say: Stan the man!

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  19. Ah no, I can't WIN! Sorry I also meant to say: I NEVER think of you as anything else but John! Sorry about the messy comment! I need to get to bed. Night!

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  20. Stan Bloody Barlow - where have you been old these years, you old bastard?!

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  21. Well, I think you're adorable -- whatever people call you!

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  22. OGDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOM
    STAN OGDEN!

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  23. Oh this did make me smile John. I don't know why, it just did.

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  24. Stan? No way! I think you look more like a Kieran or a Brad - young, hip and fashionable.

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  25. Broad " call me.... irresponsible"
    YP love you too!

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  26. I am at that age that people don't call me anything. I have become invisible.

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  27. I don't think i've ever met anyone named Stan. Although when i lived in France, the little boy in the family was named Stanislas, so let me emend and say i don't think i've ever met anyone speaking English as a first language named Stan.

    The young man who thought you may have been Stan could have been thinking of all the great times he had in this pub and perhaps just wanted to say thanks. And if he were inordinately pissed, well, his memory of what Stan looks like may be fuzzy.

    Like Theanne, the first time i got called, 'ma'am', i did a double take. The first cut's the deepest.

    megan

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  28. One of our best mates is called Stan and his partner is Annie, gets interesting when we've had a few too many as I end up calling him Stannie and her Anne!
    Jane
    Ps lovely pic of Stan & Hilda, Corrie at it's best

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  29. Well, for heaven's sake, even old men named Stan start out as babies!

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  30. yes susan but way back in 1920

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  31. Don't Dismay! The name Stan/Stanley is becoming fashionable again, along with Arthur, Seth, Alfie, Albert etc. You are groovy not old.

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  32. I love you "wartime"
    I have NEVER been called groovy before EVER

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  33. Names do carry associations with them. I went to college with a woman called Pagan whose surname was Moon. I always thought it was wrong, and so unfair that she was a very plain woman. The name conjures up exotic beauty. She didn't have it.

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  34. At least it was a name you could repeat in mixed company... :-)

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  35. Oh, he was flirting! Oldest sort of line in the world!

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  36. Stanley is a lovely old name. As a teacher, I've become something of a student of names -- this year I have a Chase, two Miguels, two Ethans, a Kristian, an Austin and a Jesus. But I've never, in 30 years of teaching, had a Stanley -- I'd be honored to have one. However, I do have my very first Ibanez, and this is cause for celebration.

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  37. You'd have to be over 65 to be called 'Stan'. After 1947 the name was banned!

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  38. That's not it. I'm sure he thought you looked like Marlon Brando when he was young and hot and playing Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire." That's what I always think when I see your face.

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I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes