Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[kinboshi]

Tikay, your hero has embraced twitter:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/what-happened-when-ryanair-boss-michael-oleary-went-on-twitter-for-live-qa-he-crashlanded-spectacularly-8895204.html

[tikay]

Tikay, your hero has embraced twitter:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/what-happened-when-ryanair-boss-michael-oleary-went-on-twitter-for-live-qa-he-crashlanded-spectacularly-8895204.html

God bless him.

That link, & his twitter exchanges, only serve to confirm that....

1) His sense of humour remains well & truly in place, & all those angry people have some work to do on their own s-o-h. Blessed are they who can poke fun at themselves, not others.

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

Anyway, Michael sends you his best regards.

[DaveShoelace]

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

This, I wouldn't necessarily say its just the Brits, I think there is almost a universal stigma these days on successful people. People either want to knock them down, or they belittle their success by saying things like 'he is successful and everything but I bet he has no life' etc.

I was never really aware of this guy before I discovered him on your diary. Even if people don't like him, they have to respect his honesty when it comes to business matters.

[tikay]

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

This, I wouldn't necessarily say its just the Brits, I think there is almost a universal stigma these days on successful people. People either want to knock them down, or they belittle their success by saying things like 'he is successful and everything but I bet he has no life' etc.

I was never really aware of this guy before I discovered him on your diary. Even if people don't like him, they have to respect his honesty when it comes to business matters.

Yes, lazy wordage by me. It may well be that other Nations share this unfortunate trait, but I do know that it is NOT the case, generally, in the USA.

The Yanks, for example, adore Beckham, whereas here he is almost a figure of fun, Spitting Image puppets & all sorts of lampooning, here. He's such a clown

There can't be many ex-footballers who have made such a success of their life outside football. He has a lovely family, too, the kids seem well behaved & polite. He must be worth fortunes, too. Think these people deserve a tad of respect, in most cases their success & fortune is based on sheer talent allied to hard work.

I adore seeing photos of the Beckham family together, not sure why, but it just feels so right somehow.


 

Click to see full-size image.

[Skippy]

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

This, I wouldn't necessarily say its just the Brits, I think there is almost a universal stigma these days on successful people. People either want to knock them down, or they belittle their success by saying things like 'he is successful and everything but I bet he has no life' etc.

I was never really aware of this guy before I discovered him on your diary. Even if people don't like him, they have to respect his honesty when it comes to business matters.

It's you two again! It's like that Tescos debate we had a while back.

Once again, if people are criticizing Ryanair. it doesn't necessarily mean that they are criticizing because Ryanair or Michael O'Leary are successful. Their criticism may or may not be valid, but it isn't necessarily "hating".

[DaveShoelace]

I honestly cant remember the Tesco debate, though I have noticed I find myself agreeing with Tikay all the time so I presume I waited for him to post and then agreed with him but in a slightly more aggressive way. 

[Skippy]

I honestly cant remember the Tesco debate, though I have noticed I find myself agreeing with Tikay all the time so I presume I waited for him to post and then agreed with him but in a slightly more aggressive way. 

It's obviously made a bigger dent in my psyche :-)

I can't remember when it was but it was a similar story- it might have been horsemeat, or tax avoidance, or just not having enough carrier bags or anything else, but the story went:

newspaper.com: Customers unhappy at Tesco's policy on X
Customers say Tesco's policy on X is really unfair.

Tikay: I love Tesco's, people are just jealous of their success.

Skippy: Just because people are complaining about some aspect of a really successful business doesn't mean they hate its success, they might just be unhappy about X.

Tikay: I'm afraid we'll never agree, Skippy. I lurve Tescos, everyone who is anyway unhappy about any aspect of their business is a blind hater who can't stand the fact that they've made lots of money. Toodle-pip!

[tikay]

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

This, I wouldn't necessarily say its just the Brits, I think there is almost a universal stigma these days on successful people. People either want to knock them down, or they belittle their success by saying things like 'he is successful and everything but I bet he has no life' etc.

I was never really aware of this guy before I discovered him on your diary. Even if people don't like him, they have to respect his honesty when it comes to business matters.

It's you two again! It's like that Tescos debate we had a while back.

Once again, if people are criticizing Ryanair. it doesn't necessarily mean that they are criticizing because Ryanair or Michael O'Leary are successful. Their criticism may or may not be valid, but it isn't necessarily "hating".

I never said "hating" though, I said "resent", "loathe" & "angry".

Are the criticisms valid?

It is a huge business, so yes, some of them may.

But there's a bigger picture here & it must be viewed in context - the sheer overwhelming sucess of Ryanair is the proof. Everyone is poking fun at Ryanair & MOL, but the business just gets bigger & more successful. Hard to figure where all those passengers come from.....

Be fair to say that very few people hit on Saad Hammad, & FLYBE. Because..........

[tikay]

I honestly cant remember the Tesco debate, though I have noticed I find myself agreeing with Tikay all the time so I presume I waited for him to post and then agreed with him but in a slightly more aggressive way. 

That's all you need to say Barry, stop right there.

You reading this, Tom?

[Skippy]

BTW, I've been only been on Ryanair once and I thought it was great. Having heard so many horror stories I thought it was going to be horrible, but it was fine.

What they should just say is "Look, we're really cheap. The only way we can be this cheap is by being really ruthless. That means, for instance, if you aren't at the gate ready to go when it says on the ticket- hard cheese- we're going."

If they were being really honest, they'd say "Look, we're really cheap. In fact we are practically giving it away. We are planning on getting our money back by ripping you off if you make the slightest mistake. So read all the rules and obey them."  But that might be too honest even for Ryanair. You are right, they are definitely a "there is no such thing as bad publicity" operator, and Michael O'Leary is great newsprint, so papers write about them and they get free advertising.

I admire Michael O'Leary too, I think it's a great business.

tl;dr: I think the customers in the "Independent" article are talking rubbish and their criticism are not valid, but I don't think their criticisms are motivated by Ryanair having lots of money.

[Skippy]

2) The British, as a society, seem to resent successful people. The more successful Michael & Ryanair become, the more people loathe him. Ain't that a thing? He can also prove that on every day that Ryanair have to endure bad publicity, seat bookings spike up.

This, I wouldn't necessarily say its just the Brits, I think there is almost a universal stigma these days on successful people. People either want to knock them down, or they belittle their success by saying things like 'he is successful and everything but I bet he has no life' etc.

I was never really aware of this guy before I discovered him on your diary. Even if people don't like him, they have to respect his honesty when it comes to business matters.

It's you two again! It's like that Tescos debate we had a while back.

Once again, if people are criticizing Ryanair. it doesn't necessarily mean that they are criticizing because Ryanair or Michael O'Leary are successful. Their criticism may or may not be valid, but it isn't necessarily "hating".

I never said "hating" though, I said "resent", "loathe" & "angry".

Are the criticisms valid?

It is a huge business, so yes, some of them may.

But there's a bigger picture here & it must be viewed in context - the sheer overwhelming sucess of Ryanair is the proof. Everyone is poking fun at Ryanair & MOL, but the business just gets bigger & more successful. Hard to figure where all those passengers come from.....

Be fair to say that very few people hit on Saad Hammad, & FLYBE. Because..........

Oooh, I like this post. Let's all be friends.

[tikay]

I honestly cant remember the Tesco debate, though I have noticed I find myself agreeing with Tikay all the time so I presume I waited for him to post and then agreed with him but in a slightly more aggressive way. 

It's obviously made a bigger dent in my psyche :-)

I can't remember when it was but it was a similar story- it might have been horsemeat, or tax avoidance, or just not having enough carrier bags or anything else, but the story went:

newspaper.com: Customers unhappy at Tesco's policy on X
Customers say Tesco's policy on X is really unfair.

Tikay: I love Tesco's, people are just jealous of their success.

Skippy: Just because people are complaining about some aspect of a really successful business doesn't mean they hate its success, they might just be unhappy about X.

Tikay: I'm afraid we'll never agree, Skippy. I lurve Tescos, everyone who is anyway unhappy about any aspect of their business is a blind hater who can't stand the fact that they've made lots of money. Toodle-pip!

Ooh. You may well be right, if so, I am happy to back down.

I just see WAY too much general ball-busting, "hating" if you wish, "knocking" in current society.

It is SO easy to do, too.

I saw an extremely talented footballer described yesterday as a complete clown.

How does that ever make an iota of sense? The guy may not be the best, but he is VERY good indeed, within the top ten in this country in his position. So there are tens of thousands worse than him. But he is now a complete clown

I'm sorry, but it pisses me off when people get so rude about those better or more successful than them.

It's an age thing, a respect thing. That's why I first noticed you, in fact - you turned up at one of "my" Poker Tourneys in a smart suit & nice shirt. A poker player in a suit & proper shirt. Fantastic!

[tikay]

BTW, I've been only been on Ryanair once and I thought it was great. Having heard so many horror stories I thought it was going to be horrible, but it was fine.

What they should just say is "Look, we're really cheap. The only way we can be this cheap is by being really ruthless. That means, for instance, if you aren't at the gate ready to go when it says on the ticket- hard cheese- we're going."

If they were being really honest, they'd say "Look, we're really cheap. In fact we are practically giving it away. We are planning on getting our money back by ripping you off if you make the slightest mistake. So read all the rules and obey them."  But that might be too honest even for Ryanair. You are right, they are definitely a "there is no such thing as bad publicity" operator, and Michael O'Leary is great newsprint, so papers write about them and they get free advertising.

I admire Michael O'Leary too, I think it's a great business.

tl;dr: I think the customers in the "Independent" article are talking rubbish and their criticism are not valid, but I don't think their criticisms are motivated by Ryanair having lots of money.

Yes, fair comment, my assumptions there were not wholly correct. Lazy wordage again.

You coming to the SPT this weekend? You know, suited & booted?

[tikay]

BTW, I've been only been on Ryanair once and I thought it was great. Having heard so many horror stories I thought it was going to be horrible, but it was fine.

What they should just say is "Look, we're really cheap. The only way we can be this cheap is by being really ruthless. That means, for instance, if you aren't at the gate ready to go when it says on the ticket- hard cheese- we're going."
If they were being really honest, they'd say "Look, we're really cheap. In fact we are practically giving it away. We are planning on getting our money back by ripping you off if you make the slightest mistake. So read all the rules and obey them."  But that might be too honest even for Ryanair. You are right, they are definitely a "there is no such thing as bad publicity" operator, and Michael O'Leary is great newsprint, so papers write about them and they get free advertising.

I admire Michael O'Leary too, I think it's a great business.

tl;dr: I think the customers in the "Independent" article are talking rubbish and their criticism are not valid, but I don't think their criticisms are motivated by Ryanair having lots of money.

Well it is the same thing as Sainsburys & Lidl, or Waitrose & Aldi. They are different businesses, aiming at different markets. All 4 of them do it supremely well, too.

But nobody in their right mind expects Waitrose quality in Aldi, do they?

I expect the MD of Aldi is a complete clown, or, another favourite adjective in these parts, clueless.

Different standards for different markets.

It used to cost - I kid you not - £600 to fly London to Edinburgh by BA.

Now, the Budget outfits will do it for a tenth of that. Do people REALLY expect identical service, or City Centre Airports at that discount?

And people complain the service is not as good as BA? Well no, it is not. Nor is the price, you complete clowns gentlemen.

[Skippy]

BTW, I've been only been on Ryanair once and I thought it was great. Having heard so many horror stories I thought it was going to be horrible, but it was fine.

What they should just say is "Look, we're really cheap. The only way we can be this cheap is by being really ruthless. That means, for instance, if you aren't at the gate ready to go when it says on the ticket- hard cheese- we're going."

If they were being really honest, they'd say "Look, we're really cheap. In fact we are practically giving it away. We are planning on getting our money back by ripping you off if you make the slightest mistake. So read all the rules and obey them."  But that might be too honest even for Ryanair. You are right, they are definitely a "there is no such thing as bad publicity" operator, and Michael O'Leary is great newsprint, so papers write about them and they get free advertising.

I admire Michael O'Leary too, I think it's a great business.

tl;dr: I think the customers in the "Independent" article are talking rubbish and their criticism are not valid, but I don't think their criticisms are motivated by Ryanair having lots of money.

Yes, fair comment, my assumptions there were not wholly correct. Lazy wordage again.

You coming to the SPT this weekend? You know, suited & booted?

Only Luton is classy enough to require a suit.

No, sadly I'm going to the opening game at the Rugby League World Cup in Cardiff, so I can't make it. Shame, I'm sure everyone will have a great time- the Sky Poker tournaments are always lots of fun.