BEWARE - Feral Kids On The Loose

I hate where we live, not the Isle of Man, not even Douglas in particular, just our own little bit of Douglas. Every time I go into and out of the local shop I hold the door for other people, don't think I've ever heard anybody say thank you or hold a door in return once. I'm not posh, not a snob, I was brought up on a similar kind of estate just in a different town for fucks sake. It pisses me off, I was brought up to be polite and with basic social manners. Even just walking to the shop after 7pm is like walking through a mine field, you never know what you're going to have to face. Be it kids trying to kick balls through the local school windows or shit faced dole scummers who have managed to stumble from the pub to the shop, mainly because they want a scrap and don't want to get barred from the pub. There's a debate in our house every time somebody has to go because we forgot to get something when in town. Usually I lose.

Take last night for example, we needed a few bits so I took a wander to the shop at about 7:30. As I walked through the kids park there was a group of lads ahead, all about 12 or 13. As I got closer I could see what they were doing, they were throwing biscuits on the ground to attract Seagulls and then throwing rocks at them! Seagulls are a pain in the arse I know, but it is illegal to kill one. IF you're going to throw stuff at them at least do it away from where people can see and especially try not to throw bloody big lumps of rock where people are walking. They didn't stop until I got about 5 yards away. I don't think they would have stopped at all unless I told them (to much muttering under breath). I was no sooner past them when they started again. I didn't have much time to dwell though because around the next corner I was greeted by a couple of my daughters friends....smashing some goal posts into a lamp post and fence! Did they stop? Did they bollacks? All I got was a "Hiya L's dad!" Now I was never a perfect kid, far from it. But I would never ever have dared to vandalise stuff not only in public view but right in front of one of my friends parents. It's just plain stupid and totally arrogant. It's that whole "well what are you going to do about it attitude". I know the correct PC approach with kids like these is to buy them some even more expensive trainers and send them of to Disney Land for a week (that'll teach em). But I'm more inclined to go down the get a grip of them, drag them home to their parents where I get a load of abuse and told to fuck of and mind my own business from whichever random bloke is living there this week who I then flatten (in the process of explaining about controlling your kids) and for the pleasure recieve a Police caution. I imagine that in the current environment (and 8 years more mature) I'd probably be more than cautioned so on my way home from the shops, fearing exactly what will end up happening when I turn the corner and still see the lads stoning Seagulls I decide to take the long way home. Not a decision I'm proud of but what exactly are you supposed to do?

Just to top of the evening well we got a knock on the door at 9:45. The wife was cozy on the sofa watching TV, I was finishing some holiday washing, our daughter was in bed. It's a school night so that means in at 9 o'clock, she is allowed to stay up late if there's something on TV like "America's Next Top Singing Starfish" and she wants to watch it with her mum otherwise it's bed time. Anyhoo, stood at the door, in the pissing rain, with no coats on, soaked through, at 9:45, on a school night, is 2 of her friends wondering if she's coming out? She'll probably get teased now for being in bed and not being allowed to roam the streets. What chance do we have? I mean what chance do we have of being able to bring kids up if most of the parents where you live just don't give a fuck? There has been a couple of generations now of kids brought up with no discipline, where you can't smack them, teachers can't tell them off, the Police can't do much in case they get sued, whose parents would rather be in the pub at night and leave them to wander and it clearly doesn't work. I'm fucking sick of it. New. House. Please.