# The 12 Days of Christmas PS Style:



## DonDub (2 Dec 2009)

I can't resist:

*The 12 Days of Christmas PS Style:*
On the first day of unpaid leave my true-love (Brian) sent to me an opportunity to give grinds to kids who were slipping behind because their teacher was missing

On the second day of unpaid leave my true-love sent to me a guarantee that I would get to take this leave later, thus rendering it paid again

On the third day of unpaid leave my true-love sent to me....suggestions??


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## z107 (2 Dec 2009)

On the third day of unpaid leave my true-love sent to me a shopping trip to Newry. And some money.


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## thedaras (2 Dec 2009)

On the fourth day of of unpaid leave my true love (Brian ) gave to me a special deal ,
on my salary..well hey it rhymes!!


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## mathepac (2 Dec 2009)

On the fifth day of of unpaid leave Biffo gave to me a P45
In order to save money 
For my poor counta-ree
And I accepted it
Most graciouslee


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## z107 (2 Dec 2009)

On the sixth day of unpaid leave I got feck all, because the government had given everything to the banks.


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## Lex Foutish (3 Dec 2009)

On the 7th day of unpaid leave I tuned to Askaboutmoneeeeeeeeeeeeee,

To listen to The Moaning Minnieeeeeeeeeeeees!

(Sorry, Don. Just like yourself, I couldn't resist).


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## DB74 (3 Dec 2009)

On the 8th day of unpaid leave my true love gave to me ... another round of benchmarking

On the 9th day of unpaid leave my true love gave to me ... the 12 days back through a nursing agency


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## liaconn (3 Dec 2009)

On the 10th day of unpaid leave my true love gave to me - a cut in child benefit and a tax increase for all those altruistic private sector workers.


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## DB74 (3 Dec 2009)

That doesn't even rhyme!


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## liaconn (3 Dec 2009)

DB74 said:


> That doesn't even rhyme!


 
Neither do lots of the others (including your's). Another rule for PS workers as usual.


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## Caveat (3 Dec 2009)

liaconn said:


> neither do lots of the others (including your's). Another rule for ps workers as usual.


 
lol


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## thedaras (3 Dec 2009)

DB74 said:


> That doesn't even rhyme![/quote)
> 
> Be carefull..Remember we are very sensitive at the  moment Ref:Liam Doran
> 
> ...


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## thedaras (3 Dec 2009)

Now Im working for myself;
Ok so you want it to rhyme; 
No problem..
I will work on it till its finished,and get it too you as soon as possible.
No dont bother getting training for me ,ill use my imagination and do some research online.
No of course the price wont change,I hope we can do businness again in the future and I value your custom....
I need this job and am happy to walk in park to get some ideas with my own umbrella should it rain.
Totally couldnt resist that one


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## liaconn (3 Dec 2009)

thedaras said:


> Now Im working for myself;
> Ok so you want it to rhyme;
> No problem..
> I will work on it till its finished,and get it too you as soon as possible.
> ...


 

And Santa comes down my chimney every Christmas Eve!! 

ps

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to meee
A deluded, self congratulatory private sector employeeee!

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.


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## Booter (3 Dec 2009)

DonDub said:


> I
> On the second day of unpaid leave my true-love sent to me a guarantee that I would get to take this leave later, thus rendering it paid again



?? This makes no sense. How does "getting to take this [unpaid] leave later" render it paid again?


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## liaconn (3 Dec 2009)

And it doesn't even rhyme either


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## becky (3 Dec 2009)

Indiansign said:


> ?? This makes no sense. How does "getting to take this [unpaid] leave later" render it paid again?


 
It seems that when times are good again we were to get 12 extra days annual leave.


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## Caveat (3 Dec 2009)

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:

12 strikers marching
11 union reps exploding
10 increments and rising
9 sickdays choking
8 hours of overtime
7 failed attempts at reform
6 pointless staff per office

5 Priiiveliigee daaaaays

4 pointless meetings
3 phonecalls answered
2 hour long lunches

and 1 full day of truly productive work per week.

And that is with a big   of course...


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## DB74 (3 Dec 2009)

You couldn't resist could you!


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## Kine (3 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
> 
> 12 strikers marching
> 11 union reps exploding
> ...


 
Best of the bunch


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## becky (3 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
> 
> 12 strikers marching
> 11 union reps exploding
> ...


 
Excellent.  You should send in into nob nation or gift grub.


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## thedaras (3 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
> 
> 12 strikers marching
> 11 union reps exploding
> ...


 
Thats just brilliant..
Wait for payback though!!


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## z107 (3 Dec 2009)

Superb Caveat - you send it to the Daily Mail 



> Thats just brilliant..
> Wait for payback though!!


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## Firefly (4 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> On the 12th day of Christmas my true love sent to me:
> 
> 12 strikers marching
> 11 union reps exploding
> ...


 

Take a bow!


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## Shawady (4 Dec 2009)

Very good Caveat but what happened to the truce??


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## Caveat (4 Dec 2009)

Err...posting guideline No.53 - 

"In all cases, use of appropriate smiley shall insulate any poster from apparent contradictions in relation to any prior committment or undertaking" ?

Maybe?


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## haminka1 (4 Dec 2009)

caveat, i loved your version - just in case you decide to sing it during the next PS strike in front of leinster house, i suggest you get a red carpet and a biofuel limousine hired for you and i even pay for it from my taxes


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## Sconhome (4 Dec 2009)

Caveat, you have to distribute that to the carol singers on Grafton Street. Brilliant!!


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## Booter (4 Dec 2009)

My opinion of this thread seems to differ from many on here, particularly those contributing to its jocularity.
Given that something like a million people, public servants and their families, are currently on tenter-hooks waiting to hear by how much their family income is to be cut, at the mouth of Christmas, I would suggest that this thread is insensitive at best. 

Whatever the rights or wrongs of it,  PS "families" face a second pay cut in nine months. Did you have a clever rhyme for the Dell employees, or any other groups who faced a pay cut. 

Shame on you.


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## DonDub (4 Dec 2009)

Indiansign said:


> My opinion of this thread seems to differ from many on here, particularly those contributing to its jocularity.
> Given that something like a million people, public servants and their families, are currently on tenter-hooks waiting to hear by how much their family income is to be cut, at the mouth of Christmas, I would suggest that this thread is insensitive at best.
> 
> Whatever the rights or wrongs of it, PS "families" face a second pay cut in nine months. Did you have a clever rhyme for the Dell employees, or any other groups who faced a pay cut.
> ...


 

What about the 420,000 people on the dole and their families....I suppose the PS employees are ful of sympathy for them.......


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## liaconn (4 Dec 2009)

Yes we are actually. Have we ever said we're not??
And we certainly don't go around making up 'funny' songs about them.


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## Booter (4 Dec 2009)

DonDub said:


> What about the 420,000 people on the dole and their families....I suppose the PS employees are ful of sympathy for them.......




Whether they have sympathy or not is irrelevant to my point. Public sector Vs Private sector is discussed in many threads all over this forum, and is not my point. My point is about manners and respect.
I have not previously seen any examples of people on AAM - nor quite frankly anywhere else -  making jokes about the any group of people in such a situation. 

How would you like it if people on here made jokes about you, if you or your loved ones faced a pay cut?


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## Caveat (4 Dec 2009)

Neither _Becky_ nor _Shawady_ seem to mind - both public sector workers.

_Liaconn_ (another PS worker) was happy to contribute - seemingly not upset - on page 1. Who has made fun of cuts in income?  I haven't anyway. Lighten up.


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## Booter (4 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> Who has made fun of cuts in income?



For example...



thedaras said:


> On the fourth day of of unpaid leave my true love (Brian ) gave to me a special deal ,
> on my salary..well hey it rhymes!!






Caveat said:


> Lighten up.



Now there's the empathy!


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## Complainer (7 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> Lighten up.


This is the classic retort of the bully - blaming the victim for taking offence.


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## Caveat (7 Dec 2009)

Complainer said:


> This is the classic retort of the bully - blaming the victim for taking offence.


 
Unbelievable.

So are you saying I am a bully now?


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## Complainer (7 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> So are you saying I am a bully now?


Deja vu


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## Purple (7 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> Unbelievable.
> 
> So are you saying I am a bully now?



Try not to get to upset


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## ney001 (7 Dec 2009)

There are more than enough threads to deal with the serious issues facing the public sector and the realities of the strikes and pay cuts!.  This is a bit of fun, that's all, don't read too much into it - it's that silly time of year and people need a bit of a laugh, that's all there is to it!.  This is the depths - for laughs and jokes.

Caveat........... brilliant!


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## delgirl (7 Dec 2009)

Job security is priceless.

And so are Caveat's 12 days of Christmas PS Style!  

Ask anyone in the private sector how much they would give up to know that their jobs were safe.


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## Complainer (7 Dec 2009)

delgirl said:


> Ask anyone in the private sector how much they would give up to know that their jobs were safe.


Ask them why they didn't make the move 2-3 years ago when the public sector was crying out for staff. From HSA website;


> Bullying is a form of destructive behaviour, aimed at a person or group, usually by one person, whose aim is to undermine and abuse the target, to make him or her look and feel inferior to others.
> It is done for various reasons, not all known or readily observable to us.  It’s usually done subtly, as the perpetrator realises that if others see him or her behaving in a bullying way, it will have the reverse effect of making him or her (perpetrator) look bad.
> The intention is to focus negative attention on the target individual.  It is a type of passive aggression, in that is seldom involves physical acts of violence, but instead relies on indirect acts which will ultimately hurt the target, psychologically and emotionally.


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## Caveat (7 Dec 2009)

Any more incongruous melodrama then?


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## Purple (7 Dec 2009)

Caveat said:


> Any more incongruous melodrama then?



I take it that you don't read his other posts


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## Purple (7 Dec 2009)

Complainer said:


> Ask them why they didn't make the move 2-3 years ago when the public sector was crying out for staff.


 They did, by their thousands.


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## becky (7 Dec 2009)

Purple said:


> They did, by their thousands.


 
Depends on the grade.  I worked in a health board recruitment area in 2001 - 2002 and there were shortages.  We were never anywhere near the 1,000's applying for jobs.  The Allied Health were especially hard with Speech and Language Therapists being like hen's teeth.  Grades like Physio and OT's were also difficult to get.

I remember interviewing 3 times for a grade III to cover a mat leave and the standard was poor, as the private offices like auctioneers, solictors were paying more.  I did see a change around 2006 onwards, where if we had a vacancy we had a decent pool of interested/competent candidates.


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## boris (8 Dec 2009)

becky said:


> Depends on the grade. I worked in a health board recruitment area in 2001 - 2002 and there were shortages. We were never anywhere near the 1,000's applying for jobs. The Allied Health were especially hard with Speech and Language Therapists being like hen's teeth. Grades like Physio and OT's were also difficult to get.
> 
> I remember interviewing 3 times for a grade III to cover a mat leave and the standard was poor, as the private offices like auctioneers, solictors were paying more. I did see a change around 2006 onwards, where if we had a vacancy we had a decent pool of interested/competent candidates.


 
I actually heard of a situation in the CS around 2000 where they were so desperate for Clerical Officers that they hired on the application form alone without going to interview for the posts.  This situation changed around 2006 but there has been no large recruitment in the CS for a long time.


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## DB74 (8 Dec 2009)

boris said:


> I actually heard of a situation in the CS around 2000 where they were so desperate for Clerical Officers that they hired on the application form alone without going to interview for the posts. This situation changed around 2006 but there has been no large recruitment in the CS for a long time.


 
Indeed things got so bad in some cases, people had to hire their offspring and those of their friends without going through the correct channels!

On the 13th day of Christmas my Daddy gave to me ... a new PS job without having any silly little interview!


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## becky (8 Dec 2009)

DB74 said:


> Indeed things got so bad in some cases, people had to hire their offspring and those of their friends without going through the correct channels!
> 
> On the 13th day of Christmas my Daddy gave to me ... a new PS job without having any silly little interview!


 
Now,  you will have to start a new song and you can't do an Elton John.

I remember getting a grade IV in 1996 after 11 months on the panel - I was no.11.

In 2001, a new grade IV started in our section - he was in the 200's which was unheard of.  

In 2006, a grade IV started in my office and she was 32 or so - she was the last person offered from the panel before it was closed off.


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## liaconn (8 Dec 2009)

DB74 said:


> Indeed things got so bad in some cases, people had to hire their offspring and those of their friends without going through the correct channels!
> 
> On the 13th day of Christmas my Daddy gave to me ... a new PS job without having any silly little interview!


 
Where did this happen?


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## DB74 (8 Dec 2009)

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-new...ck-regeneration-chief-admits-to-hiring-irreg/


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## liaconn (8 Dec 2009)

DB74 said:


> http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-new...ck-regeneration-chief-admits-to-hiring-irreg/


 
That's disgraceful. In fairness, though, it's only one case and is highly irregular. I'm surprised they were allowed recruit outside the PAS. There's an area for reform, definitely.


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