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

As I got off the commuter train on my way home today, I observed two teenagers (13-14 years old) on rollerblades playing very dangerous games - they'd catch hold of a handle of a commuter train as it started rolling and let the train pull them up to a remarkable speed, and then let go.

I watched the taller of the two boys almost lose control as his rollerblades started sverwing, but with a huge effort he managed to steer away from the platform edge.

It made me feel uneasy, as I still remember the accident that happened some months ago at this very station: a young woman fell down on the tracks and was run over - she survived but both her feet were cut off by the wheels of the train.

The taller one sat down on a bench, probably a bit shaken by how close he had come to roll over the edge - but the other one caught hold of a new train heading in the other direction.

I was the last one to leave the platform, and as I approached the stairs leading up to a bridge across the tracks, the shorter boy was standing in one of the doorways. As I walked past him, he made ugly faces at me and made rude noises.

'Idiot' I said, loud enough for him to hear, as I started climbing up the stairs. This triggered a long string of very rude words from him, including threatening to teach me a lesson by beating me up.

I had almost reached the top of the stairs when I felt I could not take any more - I had done my best to ignore him, but this was just too much!

I turned around and looked down on him, and said:
'So you're trying to pick a fight, are you? Well, come on then!'

He took a few awkward steps up (with rollerblades still on), but I turned my back on him and continued walking. He yelled at me to stay where I was, but I had no intention to, I just kept walking in a steady pace, none too fast.

Once up on the bridge, I could hear he had climbed all the way up the stairs and was now rolling on the bridge behind me. I kept my head slightly turned to one side in order to keep an eye on him in the corner of my eye - I certainly didn't expect a fair fight, rather a dirty attempt to get at me from behind my back.

He continued to call me names, and also accusing me of being a coward, running away from him (I was still walking). Again my temper got the better of me, and I turned around, letting my backpack slide off my shoulders into my hand, ready to swing it at him. I turned around and yelled back: 'You want a punch on the jaw, do you? Do you?'

He kept his distance though, so I turned my back on him again and continued walking, still keeping an eye on him in the corner of my eye. He continued hurling expletives and insults after me, while I was making an enormous effort to control my anger and keep myself from simply turning back and attacking him!

As I left the bridge he stayed behind - whether it was because it was uphill and more stairs or because his friend was still down on the platform, I don't know. It is quite possible he thought I was afraid, because I was positively trembling with the effort of keeping myself from turning into a . The little brat will never know he was playing with fire, but I've got his face memorized, and I'm not so sure I can, or even want to, restrain myself should I come across him again.

You can tell the Flamenco dancing term is over - I've got no safety valve to let off steam at the moment...

I do not know who are greater idiots, these kids just missing a Darwin Award, or their parents/schools letting them grow up so unrestricted.

What a dreadful kid. I would have been very angry as well. Hope you're having a soothing bubble bath, a G&T, and some chocolate.

I would have paid good money to see you challenge that delinquent!

Hello, Titania! Glad you managed to keep your temper, although I sense it was a near thing to letting go.

Remember: "Don't give in to the dark side of the force...", otherwise we'll have to start calling you a 'Ti Fighter'.

B4uBcomeaJedi

All this badness from kids today, stems from lack of respect,,,
Most of the younger parents (20/30s) spent a lot of time out of school cus of strikes, they lost the respect for their teachers and vice a versa,,,Peer groups stopped respecting so the kids did,,, So these days the kids of those 20/30 year olds dont have respect cus their parents didnt teach them any,, why should they when it wasnt given to them,,, There is a global infestation of badness in kids these days,, On my estate we have a group(be it small) who are the same, they love to shout abuse, light fires, generally be vandals,,
Another aspect of all this is sheer boredom, they have nothing to do, no imagination ,,,, could go on but will come of me soap box for now,lol

sue

More to the point, all this happened on a railway station? Where the heck were the staff! It's their job to stop this sort of thing happening!

I suspect there was no staff as manned stations are too expensive, and if they had been around they are powerless to do something, as it would violate the 'rights' of the idiot kids

True, true.

Even the police have to be careful these days how they handle those they arrest.
And kids!
They all know their "rights" and know what they can get away with.

There's no deterrents.

Though, I wish I knew the phone numbers of their parents, so they'd know what their precious kids are up to.

Only bullies would go after a woman alone, or a smaller kid.
When someone stands up to a bully, they back down, because they're cowards at heart.

You were braver than I would have been, T, I wouldn't have challenged him.

s

See you tomorrow

About staff:

Apart from the staff in the trains, there's only one person working at the commuter train station, and he/she is selling tickets, sitting upstairs from the platform, unable to see it, at the other end of the platform.

Brave? No, just stupid enough to let my temper get the better of me - but my experience is that most people will back off when they see me morphing into Kristina (for those not familiar with Kristina, she's the fiery, temperamental side of me, as opposed to my vauge and elf-like Titania person).

Oh - and Witty: you'd better be willing to pay a *lot* of good money, because I very, very seldom get really, really furious - during 10 years working in a hotel (but various positions) I only exploded twice - and on each occasion my colleagues could hardly believe their eyes - I'm usually a very even-tempered and patient person...

On the first occasion I ended up shouting at the top of my lungs at the annoying person (and had the pleasure of hearing my colleague, who had been breaking down in a fit of giggles when she heard me, doing exactly the same thing herself some time later when the person in question returned)...

...on the second occasion I single-handedly attempted to throw out a most annoying alcoholic, but he was too heavy for me, so I ended up shaking him silly instead, until one of the security guards showed up and took care of the matter in a much more professional way...

(It does sound rather fun to be pulled along by a train, actually. I haven't done it yet. )

Those boys sound absolutely ghastly and really stupid. They shouldn't threaten women and if they want to fight someone they shouldn't ask for that person to wait if they can't keep up and Titania deserves a .

T
I had this mental picture of you shaking someone silly,,,,, Have to admit I laughed,,lol
On a serious note though most of the parents of these unruly kids already know what their off spring are like and up to and they cannot or will not control their children.
Its then up to the general public to contact authorities about them,, over here we have an Anti-Social Team who collect all the evidence about particular children and eventually take the parents to court, even threaten them with either eviction if they live in a council property or/and a curfew order. Sometimes this works but 9 times out of 10 it doesnt....
The kids (and some of them are as young as 5 or 6) get a kick out of frightening, threatening, menacing,others, be they another child or an adult......
My congrats to you for keeping yourself in control, even under that threat of loosing your temper, its hard not to let rip.

Well, like I said, the drunk was too heavy - I grabbed hold of the lapels of his scruffy jacket and tried to pull him up from the chair where he was sitting, but when I discovered I wasn't strong enough I shook him forcefully... he was like a ragdoll in my hands

When I returned to the front office desk I looked around for my colleague - and found her bent over double laughing her head off at me!