There is a contradiction in your post - work it out yourself ...

For your information - after last night I'm starting to like him.

[quote=sheeba1;15449953i disagree with you you obviously dont have the inteligence to see that people that are street wise have more common sense than people who have numerous degree's at uni. what he may lack in intelect he sure makes up with in personality so what if he does'nt know what big words mean who cares he is funny[/QUOTE]



'Street wise' - define please - and dont resort to something you picked up from Hollywood.

BA (1st Class Honours), MA, PhD.

If you had seen the education system before the 1997 Labour government you might agree with me. Brian is still young - why he lacks an education is unknown. However, the resources are there should he want one.

Certainly street wise, people whos values clearly derive from working class background and also have to work hard for their money but respect and appreciate others no matter what class so no matter what kind of education you have had you can not teach respect or appreciation at uni these are values that are taught to you by your parents.

Would you have any evidence?

Would you classify criminals as street wise - for instance you suggest street wise people work hard for their money and respect others etc - but if they are criminals - or if criminals are considered to be street wise ...

For your informatiom I'm working class - but I work in a University now - so you can drag yourself up - my Parents worked in factories - my Mum used to catch 4 buses in the morning just to get to work in the 1960s - my Dad used to cycle to work, work a 12 hour shift, then cycle home arriving at 7pm. You dont need to tell me about working class people - but please cut out the mythology about working class people - its not fun believe me.

Further, I can give you couple of articles to read should you want about working class people - think about the slum clearances during the years 1930s to 1960s - that was working class people - and I know many - and they are never going back to it.

Does anyone know what his background is? Last night they were talking about being adopted (he is) and I think he said something about coming from New Zealand - could he be Maori? Might explain his rather different looks.

Firstly who is speaking about criminals we are speaking of Brian are we not i would say in my opinion that he is street wise and maybe not educated to your standatrds maybe there is a reason for this

secondly if you are working class then you will probably understand people like us in this position and the struggle to make ends meat i dont need to be shown the facts about working class people i totally understand this term as i myself was brought up working class and know this has nothing to do with how educated a person you can make yourself or become you may well be an inteligent person i myself was not very well educated at school but went on to become educated maybe Brian will to with a bit of help.

I wouldn't normally criticise someone for mistakes in their posts but on this occasion I can't resist

Can we please not have any argy bargy on this thread. Brian is a fun guy. Hopefully the posts will be fun too *starts foam fight*

Brian used the word 'retrospective' last night, in its correct context, which hints that he's not as thick as some would have you believe. I personally think he's pretty bright but disguises it so his mates down the pub won't think he's a plum (to use his own vernacular ).

What I like about Brian is the ease with which he gets along with everyone. He sees the best in everyone, even Charley, which is always a good trait. I don't think he's playing any kind of game, he's just a nice bloke. I'm starting to like Billi too, after seeing him and Brian in the DR requesting women

i've waited till now to have any bet on who will win bb8, but i've had to back brian last night for a few quid.

he's got youth, energy, self-deprecation, lives at home with his mum innocence, positivity, honesty, plus (whispers very quietly) would make an ideal winner in the series slightly lacerated by emily's use of the N word.

the low iq/inoffensiveness which saw helen bb2 and jade bb3 adopted by the public is also there.

i also noticed davina's forced chuckles at the end of his VT. she had obviously seen it before his entry into the house, but was making sure that she got what was probably her original laughter at the VT, into the on air show.

come on bri, do it for essex


G,L,A,M,O,R,S

I am sorry if i sound a bit argumentative but i am only defending brian after all it is an appreciation thread and i think he is a fun cool guy

If that's my wrist you're slapping I do apologise. Especially as I love you to bits for posting all those youtubes of BBLB and BBBM

For the record I think Brian is sweet - I thought at first that he might not be all that intelligent - and however good the education system is you can only succeed academically at school if you are intelligent to begin with.

Maybe he just lacks education - for whatever reason. Anyway I think he's the best of a bad bunch at the moment

If I was a gambling man I'd have a few quid on Brian myself

Didn't mean to sound wrist slappy Just didn't want a row developing and the thread being shut by the mods

Sign me up too - out of a bad bunch i would pick brian so far as my fav (though knowing me it will change all the time). He just seems down to earth and nice guy. Has made me laugh too which is always a plus. I don't consider myself a snob so intelligence levels never bother me on BB.

good to hear.


he's the first housemate this year that i actually positively like (rather than am indifferent to). people i like have an extremely poor record tho so i dont know if this is actually a curse, lol.

Is that possible?

Brian's a very sweet funny guy. And he seems to have his heart in the right place – I like him.

It's nice to have someone you can actively like, rather than just not dislike too much, which was the case before last Friday.

You seem to suggest in an earlier post working class people are street wise. I would say there are many different types of people.

Class is very difficult these days to define (which is good). For instance, using the internet may mean you are not working class. Many people use occupation to determine class - they classify class as:

AB- Higher/intermediate managerial/administrative/professional
C1: Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial / administrative / professional
C2: Skilled manual workers
D: Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
E: On state benefit, unemployed, lowest grade workers

but the C2 group is often considered to be wealthier than the C1 - so classification is difficult. Things are also changing as now people can move out of the rigid class system of the past with education - (there are also other ways) - so taking myself as an example - my parents would be classified as class D - I am classified as class AB - this type of jump did not occur before the 1980s at least - some would say the chances of this happening are stiill remote ( i agree - think Oxbridge) - my beef with Brian (and people like him) - and I do like him now (after last night and also, I grew up not far from him) - is that they have lots of life chances (see my post 53 - i think) - more life chances than working class people have ever had - and yet some decide to just leave them and accept what they have.

Now Brian may not be interested and may want fame etc - but I would suggest to him to return to college and gain some form of education as well (maybe because i am old).

I'm still not sure what a data entry clerk is/does.

enters data onto a computer?
Just copying really from paper to computer I think

Its a job - which is more than some of them have. and I think he's a lot more intelligent than he at first appeared. I think he is good at people skills (though you may not know what that is either ) and I think he has people in the house sussed.

I think its likely that he may not have achieved as much academically as perhaps he is capable of - I disagree stongly with onob that people have more opportunities now than they had. Loads of people achieved a lot through the 11 plus and they had supportive parents who wanted their children to do better than they did - and they had libraries. Nowadays many kids are in schools with disruptive pupils, and without parental support - plus there is far more likelihood that they will become involved with drink, drugs etc I'm not saying any of this applies to Brian but lots of kids who want to do well at school don't get the chance because of others.

I've no idea why anyone wants to go on BB other than to get some fame or money - if that's what he wants to do so be it. We live now in a very celebrity orientated world - I deplore it but its got to the stage where kids think this is achievement rather than pursuing more education. He doesn't have to join it but its society that has made him think like that surely

Still like him and I think he'll do well

I agree, i like Brain as well. I think his the only one without a game plan. His just being himself and is in the for the experience

Brian does genuinely seem to be unaware of what a life changing event BB may be. He seemed amazed that girls might sleep with him just because he'd been on the telly He seems to be the sort of person who may have applied for the first series - it's a laugh, they'll have fun, they'll have free booze and parties, it's like a holiday. Rather than wondering how much he can make from the mags and tabloids. It's refreshing.

I work in data entry, and yes it's pretty much a case of typing information out, although i don't know about every data entry job but what i do is a bit more complicated than out and out copying. Anyway, despite my job i would like to think i'm not stupid
There could be many reasons why Brian is 'uneducated'. My husband for example is very intelligent but missed out on lots of school due to bullying because the school he went to was full of snobs who considered themselves better than him. Also the fact he is just the type of person that doesn't take well to being taught and prefers to learn things himself, hence he was a bit of a terror at school as well. However, he's still more intelligent than some people i know with degrees and such and he wouldn't be the only person i know who is that hasn't been to uni.
I haven't seen any BB since the new ppl came in but i think i shall have to watch some from now on, if this new Brian is half as amusing as original Brian should be quite good.