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New Drivers

GaryH said:
I used to love living in wales but now it’s like a third world country led by muppets.
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As far as I'm aware Wales has access to a bountiful supply of food, clean water, and free healthcare. In addition to good quality sanitation, a decent level of education and reliable infrastructure.

Aside from the term "third world" being very politically outdated (the Cold War ended almost 40 years ago), it's far more agreeable to use the term "developing nation", it's not on using it to describe Wales.

Everything might not be rosey, but it's still a place of far more privilege than many other places in the world. Joking aside, I think sometimes we do forget the day to day horrors people face, which we couldn't even imagine, when discussing coasters and newly qualified drivers online.
 
@GooseOnTheLoose - to go into a hospital in 2024 and not be able to get one additional pillow to me isn’t pretty third world in addition to the amount of pot holes and poor road surfaces - reminded me of going off the beaten track in the Dominican Republic many years ago.
 
I got a nice clean extra pillow on my last overnight stay.

The one before was so weird though, sort of inflated.

And back on topic, I will admit to being a young idiot (as against the current old one), as a fresh driver.

Luckily, my first off road was a straight on at a hard right turn on a country road, too fast in damp conditions.
The farmer always leaves the gate to his field open, as many other young idiots had done the same and the gate had been replaced several times.
Got away with a couple of scratches in my mums new mini.
 
GaryH said:
@GooseOnTheLoose - to go into a hospital in 2024 and not be able to get one additional pillow to me isn’t pretty third world in addition to the amount of pot holes and poor road surfaces - reminded me of going off the beaten track in the Dominican Republic many years ago.
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I'm sorry for your experience, and I agree that it's not at all acceptable. I also fully agree that the country, including Wales, is in a right state at the moment. Infrastructure is generally poor, basic services are stretched, and some people are going hungry, all of which is not acceptable for a developed country like ours. There are also some quite particular challenges in Wales. Some of the poverty and health outcomes in Wales are particularly concerning.

But using the term "Third World" is bordering on offensive. It's regularly used in the right wing media to make odeous "charity begins at home" arguments, even being used regularly in the 2000's. Do you know what a Third World Country is? It's not defined by pillows and potholes.
 
@Matt N - third world - a country with minimal resources, poor healthcare, sanitation, poor transport infrastructure, lack of medicines, lots of poverty especially child poverty, where the countries economy is knackered and owes more than it produces, where some people can’t afford to eat every day….. hmm…. As “offensive” as it may sound you have to admit it does sound a little bit like modern day Britain.

Let’s stop kidding ourselves we’re a rich nation and get real… the UK’s gone bust | Economic policy | The Guardian

Britain depends on the kindness of strangers to get by in the world. It doesn’t have to be like this
amp.theguardian.com amp.theguardian.com

Anyway without going into a third world topic in a new drivers forum - going back to @rob666 post about the sharp bend - just reminded me of that one going into Alton towers just before the traffic lights where they put a load of gravel on the bend due to the number of people going too fast and going off the road there.
 
GaryH said:
third world - a country with minimal resources, poor healthcare, sanitation, poor transport infrastructure, lack of medicines, lots of poverty especially child poverty, where the countries economy is knackered and owes more than it produces, where some people can’t afford to eat every day….. hmm…. As “offensive” as it may sound you have to admit it does sound a little bit like modern day Britain.
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I'm afraid you're wrong there, sir. Third World refers to any nation which wasn't aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact, during the Cold War.
en.m.wikipedia.org

Third World - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

As far as I'm aware, Wales was almost still part of the United Kingdom during the Cold War, and was part of NATO.

The term you're searching for is "developing nation", but I'm afraid that Wales doesn't fit into that category either, however upset you may be with the current political state.

Not being able to get an extra pillow in a hospital, is not the same as being unable to access a hospital at all.

Please be mindful. The perfect isn't the enemy of the good.
 
Matt.GC said:
Yeah, I did that at Schiphol too! That first hour is terrifying on the wrong side of the road. Stressful until you reach the safety of a motorway, which is pretty much just going forward and overtaking like it is here. But after that you get really used to it.




Talking of low motorway speeds, I drove back home from Bradford once with the cruise control set to 56mph all the way. I didn't stop and it took ages. But I managed to get 82mpg. Dead proud of that, to this day it remains my all-time record on my cars trip computer.
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I hope you stayed in the middle lane and not the lorry lane.
 
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