Blog

17^th March 2015

The Clarkson Fracas

Jobsworth sums it up

One of the terms I associate with Jeremy Clarkson is jobsworth; shorten from more than my jobs worth. There are times when all of us have come across some unhelpful official where the term may seem apt, but generally it has come to mean a term of abuse for anybody who is doing their job properly. Typically by not allowing some transgression of the rules however when Clarkson use the phrase one feels that he is also taking offence that the rules should apply him. With Clarkson it is difficult to tell where the banter ends and opinion starts but it is one shared with a large section of his audience who have signed the petition for his reinstatement regardless of the outcome of the inquiry. It matters not that an assault took place; they probably see the producer as a jobsworth for not delivering a hot meal. Self-importance may have played a part but one of the undertones of this incidence and the meaning of the word, jobsworth, is a yearning for the age of deference when the rich and famous could pull rank. And in some case get away with even most serious of crimes, the consequences of which we can see in today's headlines.