h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Who inspired such lofty amitions in her?

My ex's sister was the same. Though she did go and get married to a chap with a job. I admire women who want to be mothers, but she had given up, decided that being a mother was all she'd be good at... Which is SUCH a good example... I never really got on with his mum. She wasn't the most inspiring woman I ever met

I instigated this thread feeling hopeless in the tide of violence and the downward spiral in this country. At that time London, Liverpool and Manchester seemed a long way away.

Today a man was shot in the face three times in Letchworth, the town next door.

PP

yerp.

There's somethign afoot. I blame it on the full moon and lunar eclipse due tuesday...

Possibly the floods?

It's not all a downward spiral. I live in Hull which has seen a marked decrease in severity of violence over the last decade. I lived on street in 98 that had a multiple stabbing at one end and a throat slitting at the other within six months of each other. Now it has sculptures of polar bears climbing the lamp posts and an elephant doing a 'trunk stand'.

http://www.lhi.org.uk/projects_directory/projects_by_region/yorkshire_the_humber/city_of_kingston_upon_hull/zoological_trail_pilot_the_spring_bank_elephant/index.html#

Silly, but much better than crims and junkies.

Perhaps we have on our hands for the first time a genuine subculture here.

As roymondo pointed out, at least it's news. If it were happening *all* the time, it wouldn't be. (Think about it--how often do you see stories about planes arriving at their destinations safely?)

This morning our postman delivered one letter.

As he left the garden he was talking on his mobile. He left the gate wide open which as he knows is not a good thing as we have a much loved Samoyed dog who is gentle and popular in the area.

My husband called out to him and these were his actual words "I know your phone call is important, but don't leave the gate open, we don't want the dog to get run over" The young insolent b*****d replied "Oh F**k off"

I believe that this kind of abusive behaviour is becoming acceptable and therefore instead of complaining we feel threatend. We have complained my phone, email and in person. I wonder if anything will be said to this idiot.

This is pretty much exactly my point.

It's all part of the same thing I think.

What on earth makes this postman think that this is an acceptible way to behave.

P(Grumpy Old Man)P

I disagree Mr Pink, I don't think you are a grumpy old man at all.

I have given this incident a lot of though and have come to the conclusion that people are ignorant. We Brits have dumbed down so much that we have watered down what used to be our way.

Instead of teaching good manners, respect and the British Way, we have become embarrassed our expectations of people have become narrowed.

I believe we just accept without too much retaliation poor service in shops, insolent behaviours from children and obnoxious idiots on our television screens.

When my son started his secondary school he was invited to call his teachers by their first name. Somehow although I saw myself as broad minded this didn't seem right. This was 20 years ago goodness knows what happens now.

Children are allowed in pubs and restaurants they are allowed to watch some really inappropriate television and believe that death and violence are all part of the rich tapestry of life because it happens all the time in EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Years ago people laughed more, I am sure of that, now we take ourselves too seriously. The other day we bought mother a mobile phone, she was really impressed when she discovered it had a camera. Great she said I will be able to go happy slapping. This lady is frail and 80 at first the young man in the shop looked shocked, then he started to laugh and joined in with the joke.

Happy Slapping what is that all about? I am really sorry to sound like a dinosaur but instead of wanting to leave this Country, now I want it to change and I want you to see that it is the children of today who will be the adults of tomorrow that we need to educate.

In Moston Lane in Manchester there is a shop that has been opened for some weeks. In the window there is a sign saying "No Whites Allowed" when I saw it I didn't know what to do. In the sixties I argued and fought against racism and now people are bringing it back to my land what will be done about this sign. Dunno.

The pendulum of human rights has swung so far we have lost sight of good and evil.

I agree with pretty much all of that Cookiecate.

"In the window there is a sign saying "No Whites Allowed" when I saw it I didn't know what to do."

That's illegal. This lot would probably be quite interested!

http://www.cre.gov.uk/

I don't think they would, I was told that minorities cannot be accused of racial discrimination because they are not in a position of power.
That of course is nonsense we are all capable of doing stupid things and that sign is just stupid, it takes us back to the awful days of bigotry and racism times I thought had past. I wonder what Mr Mandela would have to say about it, I am sure he would not be amused.

You were told incorrectly. The Race Relations Act 1976 makes it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of race, regardless of the race in question.

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/legResults.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&title=Race+Relations+Act&Year=1976&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&TYPE=QS&NavFrom=0&activeTextDocId=2059995&PageNumber=1&SortAlpha=0

1.
Racial discrimination.
— (1) A person discriminates against another in any circumstances relevant for the purposes of any provision of this Act if—
(a)
on racial grounds he treats that other less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons; or
(b)
he applies to that other a requirement or condition which he applies or would apply equally to persons not of the same racial group as that other but—
(i) which is such that the proportion of persons of the same racial group as that other who can comply with it is considerably smaller than the proportion of persons not of that racial group who can comply with it; and
(ii) which he cannot show to be justifiable irrespective of the colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins of the person to whom it is applied; and
(iii) which is to the detriment of that other because he cannot comply with it

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&title=Race+Relations+Act&Year=1976&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&parentActiveTextDocId=2059995&ActiveTextDocId=2060038&filesize=35001

20.
F1 ... provision of goods, facilities or services.
— (1) It is unlawful for any person concerned with the provision (for payment or not) of goods, facilities or services to the public or a section of the public to discriminate against a person who seeks to obtain or use those goods, facilities or services—
(a)
by refusing or deliberately omitting to provide him with any of them; or
(b)
by refusing or deliberately omitting to provide him with goods, facilities or services of the like quality, in the like manner and on the like terms as are normal in the first-mentioned person’s case in relation to other members of the public or (where the person so seeking belongs to a section of the public) to other members of that section.
(2) The following are examples of the facilities and services mentioned in subsection (1)—
(a)
access to and use of any place which members of the public are permitted to enter;
(b)
accommodation in a hotel, boarding house or other similar establishment;
(c)
facilities by way of banking or insurance or for grants, loans, credit or finance;
(d)
facilities for education;
(e)
facilities for entertainment, recreation or refreshment;
(f)
facilities for transport or travel;
(g)
the services of any profession or trade, or any local or other public authority.

By discriminating against white people the shop owners are being very stupid: they will breed resentment and provide apparent justification for people with a racist agenda. Anyway, regardless of the bigger picture, they are breaking an important, morally justifiable law and flaunting it.

Cookiecate -

I agree.....We DO need to EDUCATE the children.

I lived in New York City all my life and it's the same there. This is one of the reasons I moved to a suburb in New Jersey. I wanted my granddaughter to grow up in a calm, respectful community. It's much better here, but it's no Utopia.

As parents we try to provide a safe environment for our children. What is sad is that no matter how much we try and succeed in providing these things, there is still the "Outside World" to contend with. We shelter them at home, everything is cozy, and then...BAM! they go to school for the first time.... and guess what...the OTHER kids are on a mission to corrupt!!!! AAGHH!
What do you do? Your kid comes home and says or does something they never did before...(sigh). It's a never ending battle. But we keep fighting.


I think one important thing for children to learn, at a very early age, to respect their elders. Nowadays, people in general, do not respect senior citizens. They are "old", "feeble", not important. This carries on into the teen years and adulthood, and this is why you have people like that postman spewing out filth from his hole.

I wonder if that guttermouth would have said that to a 6 foot muscle bound man? I think not (I'm not implying that you are a senior, just making a point).

Bad behavior has become acceptable, I agree. I think you are correct in reporting him. We must keep our standards high and not stoop to lower levels. We should expect "civil servants" to be respectful, courteous and maybe even a smile would be nice. If you can't smile and be nice, you shouldn't be working as a cashier, sales person, waiter, receptionist, etc.

I was at a carnival with the kids, and I just could not believe the long pusses on the faces of the workers there. Oh my heavens, you think they were being tortured. They are dealing with little kids for heaven's sake. SMILE!!!! AGHH, it makes me so mad! I see the little kids looking up at them to hand them the tickets and they don't even acknowledge them! A terrible example for children. It was not "nasty", but it was not cheerful or pleasant either.

And a note on racism....sadly, it will never end. Just like WAR.

We do our best to keep our hearts pure, and pass it on.

Good Luck and God Bless.

Barb

Come on you lot, be realistic...

You can't expect civility from postal workers, the whole industry is just foaming with misanthropy. You might as well expect FRAGILE to stop meaning 'I assume you are incompetent, please smash my parcel'.

"foaming with misanthropy"

It's turns of phrase such as that which make this the best site in the world.

Been there, boiled with rage, crashed the forklift.

I agree with what has been said in the last few posts and thanks for the statutory cut and paste Roy, I'll remember that...

But I can't help feeling the violence of some of these people comes from a ligitimate anger. Expressed in the worst way, yes. But still, young people didn't make this impersonal, wealth driven society. These kids, usually from bad neighbourhoods, find themselves at the bottom of a greased ladder. They need twice the determination and vision of someone from a better background. Poor kids get prison and rich kids get expensive re-hab courtesy of mum and dad. How is imprisioning these people for six months going to help? They just want to get completely battered and lash out when they're released.

I grew up round this sort of person. They've tried taking their anger out on me for years. It took me years to come to terms with aswell. I always get the feeling people who are angered by them in return are in someway dodging their responsibilities. Sorry guys, but if you don't have time for these people the problem won't go away.

*starts bobbing and weaving*

Living in New York City with its myriad of ethnicities and the maddening moral relativism that turns unacceptable behaviors into entertainment, ie. the foul mouthed busker who parades his/her ignorance on mass media or the driver of the booming SUV, it takes protean patience not to lose one's cool. Then there is the subway with its usual fare of panhandling junkies, the oder of human by-products, the delays due to kids thinking pulling the emergency break is a form of entertainment, and the ever helpful and inspired transit employees who might consider they have a job in the service sector, who might or might not know what trains are operating.
In all it takes patience dealing with alot of self involved and barely aware folks, who in their ignorance and inattention cause the rest of us alot of discomfort. I keep my distance from the crowd and find what solace I can from my home and extended bike trips. The world is a big place but I still have a say as to enters my home or when I draw the line when my toes are stepped on both literally and figuratively. And then there is the beloved pet making a mess when your trying to be so cool. Go figure.

Talking about the beloved pet... The other day my Mom came back home from walking the dog in the park completely shaken and tearful. I was scared, because we have been terrorized by some crazy Rottweiler type of dog living next door for half a year now and I thought Mom and Dog were attacked yet again. Apparently not - the attacker this time was human (though one might argue that the human owners of the Rottweiler were to be blamed for the its behaviour, not the animal itself, but that's another, rather painful, topic). She was going through the subway, when Dog stopped in the middle and refused to continue - he does that a lot since the last time he was bitten by the above mentioned beast - I think he is getting scared every time we get close to home, so he tries to avoid walking the last stretch of the road. So, there they were, sitting and waiting for the fear to pass, when a woman (a shop owner as it seems - I don't know if you have these tiny shops in subways where you live - here they are common) and a security guard, who were sitting their, taking their coffee and having a chat, jumped at Mom, verbally abusing her, calling her names, trying to push Dog away and shouting that she should not allow him there! Obviously, they had decided that Dog was going to do his job there and thought that it was their JOB to keep the subway clean. Now, Dog was leashed, he is a cocker-spaniel, which, everybody would agree, is a rather genteel and happy breed, not likely to attack any one. He wasn't going to do anything in the subway, since it's not his habit and of course, even if he had, my Mom would have cleaned it right away.
Of course we phoned to the security company and complained - a guard is not supposed to abuse people, he is put there to keep things nice and peaceful and I pay him for that trough taxes. I hope he gets at least a warning!
But this accident and the things I read on this tread made me think – apparently this type of behaviour can be seen everywhere. May be it's all “us against them” - dog owners, against people that don't like pets; owners of small dogs, against owners of big and aggressive ones; young against old and old against young; shop-owners against customers... Occupation, religion, and race - everything is good enough, when trying to get imaginary enemies or allies. It seems like people get frustrated by the fast and stressful life, they try to vent and get the anger out and they find somebody weaker to blame for all the troubles – once they take such a decision, it’s an easy job to find a difference to “justify” the assault. And yes, stupid programmes on TV or radio, or silly books and magazines, don't help - people just get the idea that being rude and not showing respect for differences is OK...

Thank you for your taking the trouble with that information Roymondo. We emailed a complaint and have not yet received a reply. I will keep you up to date with the outcome. Thank you agian.

No probs. I'm amazed that people can (or think they can) get away with things like that. It'll be interesting to hear the outcome.