missus

I see your point Kalamiphile, but you seriously have to consider what level of anti-social behaviour you feel powerless to. OK, mugging is a lot more serious and harder to directly stand up to; but are you seriously suggesting that these angry people feel powerless to a naughty 11 year old chipping away at a playground? In fact, your social critique illustrates precisely the point, K. Rather than shouting out of the window and writing a grumbling notice on the forum, perhaps as adults we ought to assume our age and wisdom-given authority over this child (which is notably correct and proper if your reference to, as a child, being dealt with and marched home to your parents, is to be rightly acknowledged) in order to stop him doing what he is doing which obviously negatively appeals to your sense of morality. It's no good sitting and whinging about 'oh his parents obviously never brought him up properly'.... What is that going to solve? If you really think he is the 'moral scum of society' then go and sort himself out yourself for sake of purging your own blatantly self-righteous soul and doing your bit to 'save the playground'. It's all a question of how much you really care... enough to act upon your feelings? Unlikely. (Btw don't take offense at the 'you', Kalamiphile, as it's more an open plural than direct remarks) On a lighter note - thank god the thing is actually open! Been going to Dulwich Park instead which is generally mobbed!

I am shocked at the price increase although the quality seems OK. The staff, I have personally found, to be most unhelpful, very impolite on occasions and generally a bit clueless ( I had to stand and explain what celeriac was for 5 minutes to two different staff members just the other day...)! I really can't understand if it is just this Co-op that is so poorly coordinated or if it is all of them?! My local one back down in Exeter seems to suffer from the same problem.... Coincidence?

I was merely picking up on the harshness of the "dregs of society" and condemnation of the poor kid as immoral. That could be any perfectly decent persons young son that you are casually insulting. Furthermore, I have nothing personal against SB and wouldn't dream of pejoratively using a set of political beliefs to flippantly damn the counter argument....and that I, for one, have not.

Agree to disagree indeed. OK it's not communal yet but when the builders learn how to nail wood together on a more efficient time scale, it will be. And, picture this, when it will is finished hundreds of kids every day will vandalise it in some minor way until the council have to build a new one in ten years or so. My, what a tortured soul you will be then as self-appointed protector of the wooden jungle gym.... And no, you don't need a passport OR a bus ticket to travel to utopia, just a positive mode of thinking teamed with a progressive and more tolerant attitude, which will clearly be more considerably more difficult for you to acquire than either of the former two.

I just presume that those questions are rhetorical because they are so ridiculous. Just because someone has greater tolerance to naughty behaviour does not mean they do not know the difference between burning the whole thing to the ground and chipping away at one post of a very big wooden jungle gym. Or even still, the difference between chipping away at some communal piece of wood and chipping away at someone else's car. "It's tolerance of minor acts that make the slightly more offensive tolerable over time, and so on and so on....... " Yeah, you're right - first the 'liberal' forumers condone minor vandalism and soon we'll be excusing rape and murder, right? On the subject of regressing, I think it's angry people who take such un-proportionately gross offence at such unbelievably minor acts and are so willing to cast such strong judgements on others that make society more tricky to live in, not the little blighters who will undoubtedly grow out of such trivial wrong-doing.

Whilst we may be f'in liberals, Mr Bailey, I sincerely doubt you actually suppose we laud vandalism and theft - I think you'd find that assumption on your part is laughably absurd. Burglary and Vandalism are two different kettles of fish, so if you are going to input and then proceed to insult people, then I suggest you decide exactly what it is you wish to moan about. I think Honaloochie's point suggesting 'that's what we all did as kids', isn't to absent them from their responsibility but merely to remind us all that minor 'vandalism', if you will, is what naughty 11 year old children do and, as such, their being morally wrong or right has absolutely no bearing on whether they like to chip away at the wood of a playground. Don't you think that such a condemnation would be shockingly harsh?! I do so, go ahead, hang me in your liberal noose if it pleases you! Just chill out; I am a tax payer too and yes I do care about my neighbourhood but I am really not that riled by seeing kids mildly misbehaving!!

The Highland Spring Massif? The Perrier Possy?

First they rip up our treasured playgrounds, then they'll be randomly exposing their genitalia, mugging our kids and before we know it they'll be junkies scamming you for money to get their 'bus tickets'.... Bloomin' dregs of society... .....*Grabs a pitchfork*..... ...We'll teach them right and wrong by shouting at them from the safe interiors of our cars! Yeah! That'll teach 'em what their parents didn't!

Janet Kay is apparently doing a gig at the Hootenanny in a few weeks! I'll post it up when I hear the date. Silly games is the background to my early teens.

My staggering encyclopedic memory is second only in greatness to your comic indignation! Job done. Missus has left the building......

"But I have met plenty of people before who like to boast about how they or their other half like to resolve situations by giving someone a good slap and, invariably, they have been t****ers" One presumes, having read some of your earlier contumelious posts, that you too fall into said vulgarly-titled category having previously deemed strangulation a fit punishment for young women who chew gum with their mouths open.... (Was there clear evidence for that being tongue-in-cheek?!) I do believe that one could construe an equally unsavory impression of yourself, Domitianus. But, having said that, I know as little about you as I do about Steph and as such, not wishing to defame someone else's character on this forum (as you have already succeeded), will keep my judgments to myself.

Good spotting Panda Boy, although I'm sure you're aware that I meant that I don't agree with violence towards the human being. But do continue....

I think Domitianus is skating on thin ice comparing 'tanked up' girls starting fights for some sort of lowly amusement with a (although possibly overly) concerned mother. Weak parallels by anyones measure. I don't think Steph was saying she'd have resorted to unfounded violence but rather, had the man not have responded in an utmost considerate manner (particularly given the covert and surreptitious nature of his activities), taken further action i.e. called the police. I'm not sure how others read it but I presume the bit about her other half was tongue-in cheek, that said, if the man refused to delete the pictures of my child on (polite) request, I would probably exact said violent feelings on his camera. Also, Domitianus, I think your wanton judgment on Steph and her husband (who I presume you've never met) is to my mind a tad hysterical. And no, I do not agree with violence before I get pounced on with more silly analogies.