ChavWivaLawDegree

Ted Max - He's a very special dog!!

If its the cleaner, greener, safer money, why not ask them to help with insulating peoples lofts and draughtproofing windows and such like. I've got a council house and the council say I have to pay for any additional insulation myself. It has about an inch of insulation so was an icebox in the cold weather. There must be other people out there who are skint with draughty cold homes who could do with some help. I moved here from a 2nd floor flat in the Elephant, and we didn't have to worry about loft or any other insulation there, because the flats were well built and warm. I also agree that East Dulwich is pretty well fixed up already compared to other areas of Southwark and seems like Beverly Hills to me after 22 yrs at the Elephant, but there are still (a few!) people in need here too.

Mark - He was called Animal wen i got him at 9 months old, but I felt a bit of a t**t shouting animal all over the park, and was worried some perv might interpret it as an invitation, so after discussing this worrying issue with another doggie fan, decided on Hannibal, cos it sounded similar enuf to Animal not to confuse him so he is named after the Alps/conqueror guy (more than the cannibal), although he's not actually conquered much to date.

Irish/northern English from my mum and southern English with a bit of gypo from my dad, Jamaican partner, mixed chavettes Irish/English and Jamaican (2 white and 2 mixed race).

Anyway guys, it was nice ranting with you. Say hi if you see me and Hannibal (the staff mix) cycling past you, and I'll show you that not all chavs and their dogs r scary!!

Mockney - nah but I did get to see Dead or Alive before they got big-ish

SeanMac - Hardough

Mockney - I think growing up in Birkenhead and leaving school as Thatcher entered number 10, may have coloured my experience somewhat!!

Mockney - I was the kid in (rough as arseholes) school who all the teachers wanted to go to Uni because I found academic work easy, but I was more interested in sport, boys, smoking a few spliffs round the bike shed etc (much more fun!). So I ran riot for about 30 years, popped out 4 kids (to 3 dad's) and finally decided to have a go at uni at the age of 39. Gotta admit I loved it, and yes some of the posh people there were actually very nice people, not as condecending as my pre-conceived notions of them made me believe they would be! My kids are all suprisingly well balanced individuals in case you were wondering - even I never quite expected that. I also took up Taekwondo in my early 20's and was legally permitted to kick the sh** out of people and fought in the UK nationals. I think what the problem in our society is that the kind of people who would have evolved as brilliant hunter/gatherers are not really suited to our sedentary and over complex, logo-centric society and need more positive outlets for their lack of fear and physical energies. James - I suppose I want to claim the label chav, because the problem with being working class and accepting what is and is not acceptable as being the middle/upper class norms many working class aspire to; is that you look fake and will still be looked down on by the middle/upper classes anyway. So I guess its just my way of saying that I don't accept those norms and don't feel the need to smooth the harshness in my personality to make the middle/upper classes feel secure and comfortable.

SeanMacGabhann - cos I always knew I could but never wanted to before. I also got fed up with middle class people I talked to saying, "You're actually quite intelligent aren't you" and having to say "I know, but why did you assume I wasn't?" knowing it was because of my accent and my rough edges. So now I'm a Chav with a Law degree, I can tell them this immediately and they don't have to go through all that embarrassing stuff, of discovering I'm not as thick as their pre-conceived notions of class made them think I was. TedMax - I'm crap with a spray can. Why did you ask?

What really upsets me is that people like the twatty "Little Britain" couple who are elite educated, are allowed to attack poor people and chavs calling it comedy and this is considered acceptable and prime-time veiwing. Like I said before if you did the same type of thing but replaced chav for black, asian or some other oppressed group you would rightly be seen as a bigot and face possible criminal charges, but the the poor are a group of oppressed who have been persecuted throughout history with impunity, unless their labour is needed (or they have fought and won concessions from the elite), then they become the proud working class, until they become surpless to requirements again and are discarded. But they don't disappear (although Churchill wanted to make that happen by promoting sterilisation for all poor women), they merely become marginalised and it makes me sick seeing how the poor working class have become feared and hated by pretty much everyone.

I am proud to be working class, and more than a touch chavvy. I used to fight, and loved scaring the crap out of posh kids, cos they tried to look down on me. My mum was a social climber and I became a social decender in response. Loved every minute of it, but then decided I wanted to prove I could do the middle class stuff so got a law degree, and am growing my own veg, but I'm still a chav through and through, and love chav life!

James - so what should we call the upper class who are loutish and ignorant and have no regard or respect for other people with ferocious dogs of all kinds of breed? "Havs" doesn't have the derisory ring I was looking for to equal the derogatory "chav".

Mark - Sorry if you think i went off topic, I suppose I just wanted you all to know that blaming chavs for the insanity of the council was a bit unfair, and we love our dogs and will be as adversly affected by this issue as the rest of you.

SeanMacGabhan - One small point. I doubt the uniform and 'bad' attitude impliedly referred to by the label 'chav' could really be seen as anything other than a working class thing. How many middle class or upper class badly behaved, loud, tastelessly dressed or over dressed people are referred to as chavs or demonised in the same way as the working class are?

As you can probably tell from my name, I'm a chav and am dismayed by the amount of vitreol poured on the white working class and their favoured breeds of dog. I have a staff mix called Hannibal which I usually exercise on my bike on and off the lead in Dulwich Park and Peckham Rye. Admittedly he looks a bit fierce to people who have pre-conceived ideas of what this type of dog is like, but he is far from fierce. He has never attempted to attack anything dog, human or horse for that matter, and when he is attacked (usually by small yappy dogs) he has never retaliated, preferring to get out of the way. He can handle rough play with other, often more aggressive dogs, but as soon as the other dog gets serious he doesn't want to play anymore. He was not brought up to be aggressive, but he is a dog, not an accessory, so needs interaction with other dogs, space to run and chase squirrels & rats (which he has never caught)and stimulating regular exercise. If I didn't give him regular exercise he would be a pain in the arse, would chew my house to bits, and probably become aggressive and possibly dangerous - as would any other breed of dog if confined, unstimulated and underexercised. Please stop being so prejudiced about the working class and our dogs, it is hard enough in life without all your animosity and if you replaced "black" or "asian" for "chav" in some of your posts, you would (rightly) be committing the criminal offence of incitement to racial hatred, but it seems the age old elite sport of incitement to hatred of the poor is alive and well.