Hilarious article in The Times this morning about some guy (Stevo - pictured) writing about his feelings for Barrow-in-Furness on his MySpace blog. His feeling for the "Shit hole" town landed him in a whole lot of trouble with the locals. Here's his semi-private blog on MySpace, if you'd like to take a look.
He has kindly published his photo and age etc for us citizen journalists to pass on. And here's his story in full, courtesy of The Times. Enjoy.
A chain of confectionery shops has been forced to make a grovelling apology and dole out free chocolates after one of its managers referred to the town it posted him to as a “s***hole”.
Steve Beall, who had been sent from Newcastle upon Tyne to manage Thorntons’ newly opened café and shop in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, made the mistake of bemoaning his fate on a personal blog.
Before he could say hazelnut whirl, his comments were plastered over the front page of the local newspaper.
Enraged locals laid siege to the shop, staff feared for their safety and the police had to be called in to keep the Barrovians at bay.
By that time, though, an embarrassed Mr Beall, 20, had already made a run for it, back to the safety of Newcastle. Police said that he had either been sacked or suspended.
The trouble began when Mr Beall sat down to his laptop in his room at the Barrow Travelodge. Thinking that he was venting his frustrations harmlessly into cyberspace, he posted his “I hate Barrow” blog.
“I’m the manager of the new Thorntons,” he wrote. “I’m so stressed.
“Well then, what is there to say about Barrow-in-Furness apart from it is a s***hole? How the hell people live there, I’ll never know.
“It is very rough, give me Newcastle any day and staying in a Travelodge by yourself for over a week is very boring!” Mr Beall had been upset by vandals who had smashed the Thorntons store window on the day before the December 8 official opening, and shoplifters were getting him down.
“I am tired, stressed and need to drink,” he signed off.
His comments were picked up by the North West Evening Mail. When confronted by a reporter, Mr Beall appeared to fudge the issue. “I still hate it because it is not home, but I promise I’ll put a nicer post on MySpace,” he said.
But before he could make amends, he was gone, leaving behind his staff to face the music.
One employee said: “We have had to deal with abuse all day and threats from people who saw the story. A colleague of mine has been reduced to a nervous wreck after one woman pointed him out as the manager, which he is not. I think many employees will not return after what has happened.”
A spokesman for Cumbria police said: “The area manager has confirmed the manager who made the inappropriate and tactless comments which were posted on the internet will not be returning to the store. The staff in there are born and bred Barrovians and were most concerned.”
Mike Davies, Thorntons’ chief executive, issued a statement: “I would like to apologise for the disparaging comments made by one of our employees about the town. These comments do not reflect the company’s views or those of its other employees.”
He went on to say that “Thorntons greatly appreciated the warm welcome it has received from the people of Barrow since its store opened on December 8 and hopes to become an active participant in the local community. As a gesture of goodwill, anybody visiting our store until Christmas will receive a free chocolate.”
I've lived in Barrow for 36yrs and it used to be so lovely and people were pleasant but now its gone right down, people are ignorant, selfish,mean and just totally awful. My husband and I want to escape this place altogether as far as U.S.A as soon as possible. I suffer from depression and its because of this s**thole...I agree with Steve
Posted by: Debra | April 07, 2008 at 08:15 PM
All i have to say is it isn't everyone's fault Barrow is how it is. You do get a few decent people in Barrow, unfortunately they're let down by the parents that don't give a S#*t about their kids, these are the people who allow their kids to do whatever they please.
These kids end up being the worst kids ever that people tend to call Chavs, they seem to do violent dangerous damaging things and don't seem to have a conscience.
Goths are fine because they don't give cheek and swear at everyone. So if you must complain about anything to do with Barrow blame the ignorant Parents that need to smack there kids round the head when they misbehave.
Posted by: Stacey | April 07, 2008 at 08:53 PM