This chap thought it would be nice to share the joy this goal brought. He was wrong
Here’s a lovely chap called Nick Harvey who thought he’d share the joy a football goal had brought his kids and thought it might encourage other people to do the same.
If you have sons, don’t buy them a gaming device. Get them a football goal instead. Every waking hour when they’re not at school, they’ll be in the garden playing. It’s the best thing. pic.twitter.com/FbXfqlYcDl
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
And the way some people responded – quite a lot of people, in fact – will have you clawing your eyes out. Not literally, that would be awful.
1.
OR DAUGHTERS!!!
— Clara Wiggins (@strandedatsea) June 26, 2018
2.
What about if you have daughters? Are they not allowed to play football?
— Sir Robin Boggammon (@robinbogg) June 27, 2018
3.
Bollocks. My son hated sports. He'd never sport.
Also, not girls? Can they game? https://t.co/yKCo7poanW— Lady Pinkles Smirnoff (@SuicideBiscuits) June 26, 2018
4.
Interesting way to spell ‘children’.
— Paula Keogh (@paulakeogh) June 26, 2018
5.
Why only sons?
— theresav (@hagrat1) June 26, 2018
6.
And I suppose the daughters are just meant to go,play with their dolls?! https://t.co/ukmwdhuSbR
— Sue Fowler (@WomanOfCarrots) June 26, 2018
7.
Why only sons? Applicable for daughters as well
— Deepak Iyer (@bdepak) June 26, 2018
8.
And daughters. Just saying ….
— Liz Sich (@lizsich) June 26, 2018
9.
Not everyone has a big enough garden https://t.co/VmjNqgZkzZ
— Parmy singh (@parmy71singh) June 26, 2018
10.
What about us girl footy players? You should have said if you have kids or footy mad kids.
— Sarah #Braduso (@luv4LBnJCx) June 26, 2018
11.
Don’t assume that *all* your sons give a fuck about football please https://t.co/pLZ3CsRVcl
— Alex (@rubytrubes) June 26, 2018
And fair play to Nick, he even made the effort to reply to them.
Oy! Nick! No!!!#DontBeADick
— 🚲PatriciaPedals❤️ (@Patsykins_X) June 26, 2018
Please elaborate.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
Clearly, even if youve just got boys, you can’t tweet ‘get boys a football’ … Ive got one girl, she loves footie. I’d prefer ‘if you’ve got kids, get em a football. It’s obvious innit?
— 🚲PatriciaPedals❤️ (@Patsykins_X) June 26, 2018
It’s not for me to speak for parents of daughters. You really don’t need to read too much into it.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
You spoke for every parent of sons. That’s already broader than your experience and supports gender blinkers. Most parents would agree with your notion if you’d been more inclusive. It is not particularly critical or at all negative to say ‘daughters too’. Embrace the feedback.
— Scott McQuade (@SEMcQ) June 27, 2018
Oh, for there to be an edit button. FYI, I don’t need the feedback. Of COURSE I meant daughters too. It was a simple tweet about getting children outside and not glued to a screen. Do you really think that I only meant boys? Seriously? I. Was. Referring. To. My. Sons.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 27, 2018
“Gender blinkers” though. FFS.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 27, 2018
Here’s what people made of it all.
I really REALLY wish I hadn’t started reading some of the replies to this tweet. How dare you have boys/a football/a garden/no dolls/a life! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, NICK? WELL???
— Jayne Sharp (@Jaynesharp) June 27, 2018
Christ, the depressing right-on replies to this innocent tweet… Maybe it would just be easier if your sons identified as daughters to please everyone on here
— Patrick Kidd (@patrick_kidd) June 26, 2018
I feel you’re getting unnecessary stick about this! It’s merely an observation that’s clearly come from a happy place! You see your kids having fun outdoors and that’s a wonderful thing. Here’s to many more lovely days of sunshine and outdoor fun 😊
— natasha m (@nrem511) June 26, 2018
Got to love the replies on this. “But what about my specific life that’s isn’t covered in this generic tweet”
— lewisboulter (@lewisboulter) June 26, 2018
And it wasn’t all negative.
We haven’t quite got room for football in our garden, but it’s inspired me to look into buying a trampoline for my girls. Hope you’re enjoying the sun today!
— Andy Ryan (@ItsAndyRyan) June 26, 2018
These people just had fun with it.
Hi Nick, haven’t got time to read any of the replies but wanted to say I have a daughter and live in an apartment so this doesn’t apply to me. Cheers
— Bea_ker (@bea_ker) June 26, 2018
Fuck you.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
😀
— Bea_ker (@bea_ker) June 26, 2018
I don’t think we should set children up to fail by getting them “goals”. How about giving them a ball and asking them to contemplate it? Get them to use their imagination by closing their eyes and picturing themselves playing a match.
— heartbeeps (@hrtbps) June 26, 2018
Fuck off.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
To conclude …
But what if I don't have sons/don't have a garden/have an instinctive fear of nets/can't walk on land/I'm a dolphin? Basically I'm a dolphin and I find this tweet very upsetting https://t.co/KfdOYpik0C
— Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel) June 26, 2018
Twitter can be such a headfuck sometimes. Jesus.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 26, 2018
UPDATE
Of course, if, as children, the German team had been given football goals by their parents, things would be very different.
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 27, 2018
