Tuesday 21 October 2008

The (Imaginary) Diary Of A White Van Man And Woman

What a busy and profitable few days we have enjoyed with our white van! On Monday, we travelled up to London with a delivery. We dropped a load of rotting compost on the doorstep of number 10 at maggie may's request. We left no accompanying card, but I'm sure that the occupant got the message, even if he didn't know exactly who sent it!

The next day, after dressing up as police officers, we set up our own speed camera, in a lay-by, at suburbia's suggestion and imposed 'on the spot' fines. What a lucrative business that turned out to be! Unfortunately, the real police caught up with us and forced us to hand over all of our 'easy money'. They explained that, up until the introduction of speed cameras, the length and occurrence of their Christmas party had been dependent upon the availability of an empty cell in the local police station. The ever increasing amounts of money generated by the speed cameras, however, meant that, last year, they had all enjoyed a long weekend partying in Mallorca and, this year, they had their fingers crossed for a week in an exclusive hotel in the Maldives.

On Wednesday, at irene's suggestion, we decided to rob a bank. With hindsight, we realised that we should have chosen a British one, rather than an Icelandic one, but our Financial Advisor has suggested that we should hold on to the sack loads of IOUs we succeeded in stealing, as he feels that we have an excellent chance of them becoming legal tender, within the next few days.

The next day, I teamed up with robin for a bit of kidnapping. We managed to grab George Clooney and Johnny Depp, with every intention of demanding a king's ransom for their safe return. After a little consideration, however, we decided to keep them and 'to hell with the ransom!' It's my turn for George next week.

On Friday, I parked on the side of the road, at the suggestion of auntiegwen and commandeered the back of the van, in order to dabble in the profession, which is widely accepted as the oldest known to mankind. I do hope that you didn't get caught up in the ensuing traffic jam, caused by men with white sticks, or guide dogs, crossing the dual carriageway in a rather willy-nilly fashion. You'll be relieved to know that no one was seriously hurt and, in fact, a jolly good time was had by all.

On Saturday, we picked up some radiators from the side of working mum's house and sold them for scrap. She was a little annoyed that the deed preceded the invitation, but it's my belief that she'll see the funny side of it any day now. Working mum has shown great commitment to the cause for energy conservation, by discarding her radiators and we would strongly advise you all to follow her example. We will gladly relieve you of the scrap metal and you will have the satisfaction of feeling virtuous, if rather chilly, for the duration of the winter months.

On Sunday, at merry weather's suggestion, we loaded up the van with a tent and provisions and headed off for a well-earned short break. We decided to go to France, at the invitation of farming-frenchstyle, in the expectation of picking up some useful tips from her other half, who is also a white van driver. Our hopes of travelling alone were dashed, however, when some of our neighbours heard that we were crossing the Channel. We were inundated with requests from British Citizens, begging us to help them escape from a life of unemployment and poverty. We squeezed in as many Brits as our van would hold and headed off for Shangri-La.

By the time we met up with farming-frenchstyle, we had dropped off our cargo and were almost totally exhausted from counting our ill-gotten Euros. We were somewhat surprised to learn from farming-frenchstyle and her husband, that a white van could be used for legitimate money-making ventures and, as a result of our enlightenment, we vowed that our criminal activities would cease once we had returned to England.

It was impossible to resist liz's suggestion of picking up a few ill-informed 'illegals' on the way home, though. They hadn't seen a newspaper for 3 weeks and couldn't understand why we were requesting payment in gold jewellery, (in need of repair, or not) when the streets of London were paved with gold. English folklore and the British pantomime still have a lot to answer for.

We stopped only to stock up with booze and fags, to sell on the black market, before wending our weary way back across the Channel. On our return, we decided to remove temptation from our lives and we gave back the company van. All of our illegal activities have now ceased, but we feel that we've been enormously fortunate in finding respectable jobs in the city.

Anyone want to buy any stocks and shares? Come on, now, there couldn't be a better time to buy! From here, the only way is up, isn't it?

With apologies to the majority of white van drivers who use their vehicles for legitimate purposes and whose reputations suffer, because of a minority who indulge in criminal activity.

Note for the confused: This post has been constructed around some of the comments from the previous one.

26 comments:

softinthehead said...

Good golly Mean Mom you have been busy! :)

Mean Mom said...

softinthehead - I fell asleep on the sofa again, so I am feeling fairly wide awake! No doubt it will be a different story tomorrow, though, so I'm off to bed, now!

Irene said...

Ha, I love it, and once again, it shows your keen sense of humor. Too bad about the Icelandic bank deal, I don't think we'll see the money out of that one.

Maggie May said...

Wow! Will have to be careful what I say to you in future LOL
You certainly made the most of that white van!
What a laugh!

Anonymous said...

You mean it is too late to put in a request for the van? I need to transport 45 packs of oak floor boards from B&Q in Wandsworth to my flat and it is taking forever on the bus....

Mean Mom said...

irene - Glad you enjoyed it! I know nothing about finance, but, fortunately, when my husband pointed out that 'some Icelandic bank' was being recommended, by financial experts as the best place to put your money, I said that it sounded risky to me! What a lucky escape!


maggie may - Glad you enjoyed it! You're wise to me, now, then? I'm just sneaky, you know!


mud in the city - LOL! 45 packs??? Let's not beat about the bush. What's it worth?

Suburbia said...

I'd love some socks to share please ;)(white vans always have a secret supply for that occasional surprise market stall)
And by the way........I'm sure it's my turn with George next week ?!!

Mean Mom said...

suburbia - Yes, I do have a few pairs of socks left over, now that you mention it!

Is that 3 of us to share George, now, then? Oh, OK, but don't forget to give him back! (He says he's going to wait until your drippy nose has cleared up!) ;0)

Robin said...

Mean Mom - I think the time spent with George has been worth the millions we lost in ransom. Good Call!

I hope you didn't mind me calling you mate, something about that van makes me want talk like Bert in Mary Poppins. (Ain't that right Gov'ner?)

Mean Mom said...

robin - s'alright with me, mate! Glad you enjoyed George!

Working Mum said...

You've made me giggle uncontrollably! great post. I hate to disappoint you, but we replaced the radiators, but with more efficient ones!

Dusty Spider said...

OMG I missed you!! If I'd known you were out and about with a van I'd have comandeered you to take away the many many boxes we've collected from Mum's move! You could have dumped my brother too while you were at it. Anywhere you liked the look of. So now you've a new career as a roady, where to next I wonder?? PS Pick me up when you're passing. I could do with a change of scene. Flick xx

Mean Mom said...

working mum - Thanks! You bought more radiators? I don't know what the world is coming to. You wouldn't remember the days when we all had thick ice on the inside of our windows, on cold winter mornings. You don't know you're born, these days!! ;0)

Mean Mom said...

dusty spider - Had to laugh about your brother. Yes, OK, I'll have to have a think about where to dump him!

You fancy a change of scenery? OK, where shall we go? Shangri-La?

Suburbia said...

Nose is now a bit crusty and very red, do you think that's the sort of look he goes for? Ye? Send him over then ;)

Mean Mom said...

suburbia - Oh, yes - very alluring. OK, sending him over.

(Commiserations if you really have a sore nose. It's unbelievably painful, isn't it?)

scrappysue said...

i see you've been up to your old tricks again MM!!! shame i missed all the fun! that's what i call a ROAD TRIP!!!

the word verification says 'handled'!!!

blogthatmama said...

Could I join you on a YTS scheme? As a mature student? I'll be dreaming about the back of that van and George Clooney. Let me know when I can start... Blogthatmamax

Jules said...

Ha! I had a feeling you made it over to this side of the pond. That was you in the white van, going at hyperspeed, that cut me off, wasn't it?

Mean Mom said...

scrappysue - It is a shame that you missed out, but I don't suppose I'll go straight for ever! Maybe next time!


blogthatmama - Sounds good to me! I don't mind sharing George at all. A girl needs an evening to wash her hair, after all!


jules - WELCOME! WOOHOO! Oh, ahem, excuse me. I didn't mean to get so excited. Yes, sorry about the driving - it probably was me. I do get a bit carried away when I drive in the van! It's so big!

auntiegwen said...

You see, I lower the tone everywhere I go, my mother's so very proud of me ! x

Mean Mom said...

auntiegwen - You do? What fun! I'm in favour of it!

Rose said...

Well, Mean Mom, I'm not sure where I've been, but I missed this post. Darn, if I'd known you were kidnapping Johnny Depp and George Clooney I would have eagerly thrown caution to the wind and joined you! Have you given George back yet??

Mean Mom said...

George is resting, but with a smile on his face. I will send him over as soon as he wakes up!

A Mother's Place is in the Wrong said...

Goodness, you have been busy with that van - and all good stuff. Your adventures did make me laugh.
M :-)
PS. Please pass George this way when all your friends have finished with him.

Mean Mom said...

a mother's place - George is so popular! I am considering renting him out, by the hour!