I was walking home from Valentines Park in Ilford with the nine year old little one this afternoon. Approching a narrow part of a pavement, she's on my inside, and I'm pushing the bicycle to the ouside of me, when 3 youths start walking towards us. They spread themselves out so they take up the whole of the path. The little one goes ahead of me to squeze past and the dickhead nearest me barges the handlebars of the bike, lobbing it over. There's a picknic basket and croquet set balanced on the back which go all over the place. They then surround me, with the guy that knocked the bike over right in my face, literally nose to nose, screaming he's going to knife me, slash me, bust me up, fluck me up, and every other manner of God knows what!!!!
I'm acutely aware of my nine year old with me, who took to her heals running away and crying her eyes out that her dad was going to be stabbed.
I pushed the guy in my face back, and his two mates start to tell me he was a nutter, and they couldn't control him, and he was gonna kill me right there and then, but they we doing this fake pulling him off me type thing.
He then took a swipe at me, just about connecting with my arm. It was like being hit with a paper bag
After a few more minutes of arm waving and threats of all sorts, he then walks off with his mates ''pulling'' him away, but screaming all sorts of what they would do to me - I didn't catch all of it as I don't speak rap or eminem.
All I'm interested in the little one, and making sure she is ok and reassuring her.
We gather our bits up, and carry on our merry way home, with their laughs and threats still ringing in the background.
They were probably between 16 and 19 years old.
They deliberately barged into the bike, and then unleashed an explosion of anger I generally only see in situations involving psychiatric patients.
It was also intersting to reflect had the little one not been with me, our interaction might have been a little bit different. But then as Mrs Alps pointed out - and which I know anyhow and it's always in the back of my mind - if I laid a finger on them I would be the one seen attacking 3 youths, as noone would have witnessed them knocking the bike over and scattering my stuff. I have a job that requires a pristine clean police record. Anything, regardless of fault, that smudges that pristine clean record, and I can kiss my job goodbye. And all for what???!!!! She also pointed out there was a very high possibility that all three were in fact, carrying knives, and what would that do to the little one, to see her dad knifed on the side of the road. Again, she was probably right.
What's sad, but predictable, is that the guy doing most of the threatening, will do the same thing soon to someone who won't have a child with him, won't have a job he needs to keep, won't give a flying fluck about the police or anything else, and the outcome will be very very different.
I have no hesitation in saying, based on my little ten minute exchange with them, that all three will be dead, or in jail, within the next 5 years.
I bothers me that this is our youth, our future. I also know that areas are different and my area has a particularly high level of ferral youth. But I despair for them I really do.



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