Louisa

I've never heard of DulwichMum who is she? Louisa.

Finally we have a decent Japanese restaurant coming to ED just in time for the cinema opening up. This is brilliant news, I do hope the rumours about Tortilla are also true. Louisa.

I've seen lots of references on social media in recent weeks regarding the so called "Ice Bucket challenge". It's for a fabulous cause, and I totally support the idea of doing something fun if it's raising money for charities. I believe it's raising money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a debilitating disease. I think Macmillan Cancer charities have also encouraged donations for something similar. However, I have noticed a lot of people doing it for fun without realising that it's for charitable causes. This makes me extremely angry and these people should be forced to do the "pi$$ bucket challenge" for being totally ignorant self indulgent scum bags. If I see one more video of people doing it for fun without any references to fund raising for charity, I shall be nominating you for this special challenge. Be warned. Idiots. Louisa.

KK I would but I've already stuck the Iceland joint in the oven along with the frozen veg and Aunt Bessie's specials. Maybe Robert can treat me to that pricy gastronomic delight next time he visits ED. I'll make sure I smother mine in morrisons home brand ketchup to cover up the pretentiousness in the lean mince flavour ;-) Louisa.

Robert is coming over mine for dinner. Bloody knew someone would see him.mnosey sods around here. Louisa.

You live in a big city get the Big Mac and fries over it!! (Other burgers are available in the range of 9/50 quid in ED) Louisa.

TheCat - in one. Best post of the day. Louisa.

Depends on your religious/cultural traditions, or hers/her family. Traditionally a suit and black tie for a man and a dress or trouser suit for a woman and optional black hat and vale. Louisa.

Well you didn't answer the question I first posed to you on this thread so it's all relative I suppose. Let's not get onto the topic of Totnes, because certain posters will no doubt go down the 'chav' route to describe anywhere outside of the ED bubble. Who needs perspective anyway? Apparently we are about to save the world by banning plastic bags. Louisa.

SJ three posts in a row. Someone's hot on the heels this afternoon ;-) Louisa.

ED could be the Totnes of London. Let's ban motorised vehicles, plastic bags, smoking (including in your own home) alcohol and anything else which potentially we as the SE22 postcode area find offensive or believe may be so in the future. A referendum every time we want to ban something. Majority vote means it's banned. Let's see what sort of economy we are left with by the end of it. And oops, looks like the sea level is still rising and the suns about to explode only I'm also now forced to carry the entire weeks shop home in my bare hands from Iceland. Win win situation it seems. Louisa.

Why don't we just ban everything, including food, then we can just not eat and gradually wipe out humanity once and for all. Anything else people would like to ban? Louisa.

SJ do you therefore think we have reached this point with plastic bags? Because most people I come across in supermarkets get quite arsey when given one bag by the checkout person when then asks in a rather patronising manner, "do you need help with your packing?", Erm no but how about another half dozen bags you numpty, unless you want me to juggle this lot in my hands on the walk home. So if people are troubled by asking for more bags, imagine how they would feel being told that we aren't allowed plastic bags at all now because the save the world merchants have convinced government we need to ban them based on unsubstantiated destructive climate change research done by a science boffin I've never met before. Louisa.

I'm with Penguin here, banning anything is a slippery road into dictatorship. I for the life of me still struggle to understand why smoking was banned in pubs all those years ago. Many people still enjoy the smoke filled atmosphere of a proper boozer, all taken away from us because of some ridiculous politically correct dictatorial ban aimed at harming the very institutions which made money at the heart of the community, the pub. If you ban plastic bags what's next? Shall we ban religious freedom? Shall we ban people smiling in public places? How about alcohol? Ridiculous. No I'm on the side of free plastic bags,especially in a day and age when the high street is struggling, I would allow free parking in town centres and free plastic bags in shops and supermarkets to increase footfall. Louisa.

That's what happens when someone is reckless and not paying attention. It may sound trivial to some, but if that small child had been hit at speed by that bike it could have caused injury. More to the point, the cyclist did not even notice they had nearly hit someone! Crazy behaviour. Louisa.

I think statistically speaking a teenager with one working class and one middle class parent on a scooter (carrying a bag from both Iceland and M&S) would be a highly unlikely scenario. However, if this did happen, I would reckon the officer involved would weigh up the character of the individual once stopped, and if they showed signs of being privately educated (posh accent) they would get a friendly tap on the shoulder and told to move. However, if they spoke with a traditionally working class regional accent they would probably be verbally probed a lot more. Out of interest, was this person riding their scooter on the pavement or were they being law abiding? This is a difficult one. Louisa.

Personally I've never seen a person in said age group on a bicycle or a motor powered two wheeled vehicle. There's plenty of fun things for the older folk, especially all the lovely green open spaces and long walks available locally. I would recommend a good walk, just try to avoid lazy pavement hogging couples and Bradley wiggins wannabes on the pavement. I wonder if it's possible to get a lambretta and go for a spin down to the coast? Maybe an over 55s club for people wanting to get out there for a nice spin in the country? Louisa.

Afrikaner kids on quad bikes, a rampaging eton educated lord rampaging through Iceland on a lambretta. This conversation is losing me. I was trying to be serious! I agree about the class structure Penguin68 talks of. The structure appears to have become more complex these days, but the boundaries are there still despite a more muddled middle so to speak. I think on the topic of bags, I wonder statistically if a stop and search crack down by the police has ever been aimed at the shopping bags we hold? I would probably estimate someone with an Iceland/lidl/aldi bag would be more likely to be stopped than someone sporting a Waitrose/M&S bag. Louisa.

The ironic thing is - and this is my point. A poor lord, down on his luck, riding through the streets of ED on a lambretta (probably borrowed as he's poor) would be less likely to be stopped by the law than a working class person minding their own business walking down LL holding a couple of Iceland bags, purely based on the fact they would look more dodgy to the powers that be than the crazy psycho lord speeding along the pavement. Does that make sense? Louisa.

rahrahrah honestly it all depends on which postcode you happen to be in. As I say, some more central postcodes reflect considerably higher rates of pavement hogging cyclists. For whatever reason, it seems to be less so around here but don't allow that to fool you into believing rates are not much higher elsewhere. I suggest you stand at the junction of vauxhall bridge road. I would loosely estimate 5/6 pavement hoggers on the average day. Maybe someone should take a straw poll? Louisa.

Jeremy and Otta. Class shouldn't matter, but it does. Even more so today than it ever did in the past. A well developed underclass of people who are forgotten by society are a very visible sign of 21st century class. Even putting these people to one side, the way the institutional structures of this country work, a certain segment of the aristocratic classes will always be different to the rest of us based purely on blood lines regardless of wealth. A poor lord down on his luck is valued more than the working class person made good who's earned a small fortune. There is no such thing as class equality in this country and money doesn't necessarily play a part in this. The mindset of this country is that those at the top will always be better than those at the bottom, regardless of wealth. Louisa.

Otta yes I agree the plumber/office worker comparison is weak inevitably because class is about more than money, as any snob who's played the 'keeping up with the joneses' game will verify. Louisa.

rahrahrah I am a driver and a walker, and I can assure you, when I'm walking, I do regularly come across pavement cyclists, and I'm not talking about kids, I'm referring to the Bradley wiggins wannabes with all the gear on and cameras attached etc. Louisa.

SJ I rarely if ever go down the class route these days. But on this occasion I thought it was relevant. Use of the word "chav" is just offensive in this context. We all agree these people are idiots, let's just drop the use of the word chav. I do however stand by my point about expansive burgers. Paying the best part of a tenner or more for one burger is ridiculous. As is a coffee for more than 1.50. Louisa.

God why is everyone picking on me tonight. All I am saying is, if anyone from whatever class background jumps on a bike and rides it on the pavement they should immediately be dealt with by the law. Their class does not come into it. However, on this forum, the offensive "chav" word is used widely and loosely to describe them. This word, as everyone knows, is used to describe people from a certain social class. That was my original point. Therefore, without knowing any of the details, we are immediately led to believe these idiots on bikes driving them dangerously on our streets are people from a working or "under" class background. All I'm saying is, for various reasons they may be from any class background, why are they branded anything other than just complete morons in the first place? Louisa.