Following on from my previous comments, the riots in and around London (and indeed the rest of the country) are mindless actions by the minority population who are hell bent on causing as much distress and mayhem as possible. These actions took me back to my days in the 1980’s and 1990’s when I worked for a large furniture retailer sorting out the repairs and maintenance of the properties. The stores where the most occurrences of vandalism and general antisocial behaviour took place were the same areas of London where the current issues are. I guess today’s thugs are the offspring of those who caused the damage all those years ago. The apple quite obviously does not fall far from the tree (although I guess it makes a good missile to throw at the buildings).
There is a call to name and shame these criminals. Exactly what good would that do? These reprobates have no regard for people, property or the law. Naming them would be like a badge of honour and seen by them as “a reward man innit”. Cutting their benefits would not resolve the problem, only create more issues as further crimes would be committed. I saw a picture yesterday on a social networking site of a young man proudly smiling beside his haul of booty from the looted shops – how proud his parents must be. Of course, a lot of these people have no positive role model in their lives and the thriving gang culture does nothing to alleviate the situation.
I visited New York in 2004 as a lone traveller and during the course of my stay I used the subway and walked through the city at various times of the day and night on my sightseeing escapades. I can honestly say that I felt totally safe there despite the stories I had heard prior to my trip. I was treated with respect by everyone from shopkeepers to people I got talking to whilst ‘waiting in line’ at the tourist attractions, nothing was too much bother for people who were serving the public and when I was wished ‘have a nice day’ it was said genuinely. Contrast this with London where I do not feel at all safe on the occasions I visit the city. Considering I grew up in a London suburb you might think I should be used to the way the city functions. Sadly, this was not how the capital was when I enjoyed day trips in the school holidays to the attractions, where I could travel freely as a teenager and young adult in the knowledge that it was perfectly safe. Nowadays I take the bare minimum with me when I visit and am looking around me all the time to see who is in the vicinity. What a sad reflection on modern day England.
Anyone reading this might think I have an issue with certain ethnic groups of people in this country. The truth is, I embrace people from other cultures, I am fascinated with the ‘quirks’ of their day to day living and believe that by knowing more about each other we should be able to develop a more tolerant and harmonious community within our towns and cities. What I do object to are the extremists within every community, whether British or other races or religions who see fit to try to ‘convert’ others to their way of thinking through terrorism, crime, intimidation and general inappropriate actions. We all start out in life as innocent babies but, sadly some people, whether through upbringing or falling in with the wrong crowd make life harder than it needs to be for everyone. Prejudice is a learned behaviour and should be stamped out. Just watch a group of three year olds playing – despite any cultural differences, disabilities or learning abilities they treat each other all the same and accept their friends for who and how they are. I see this all the time in my line of work and strive to ensure that they remain unbiased despite any negative attitudes that may be presented to them from other sources.
This is all.
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