Gentler environment

[xoxoxoBruce]

From the BBC

Why is it then that so many Americans - and foreigners who come here - feel that the place is so, well, safe?

A British man I met in Colorado recently told me he used to live in Kent but he moved to the American state of New Jersey and will not go home because it is, as he put it, "a gentler environment for bringing the kids up."

This is New Jersey. Home of the Sopranos.

Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

"It seems so nice here," they quaver.

Well, it is!

A snippet from a much longer article.

What surprises the British tourists is that, in areas of the US that look and feel like suburban Britain, there is simply less crime and much less violent crime.

Doors are left unlocked, public telephones unbroken.

One reason - perhaps the overriding reason - is that there is no public drunkenness in polite America, simply none.

I have never seen a group of drunk young people in the entire six years I have lived here. I travel a lot and not always to the better parts of town.

It is an odd fact that a nation we associate - quite properly - with violence is also so serene, so unscarred by petty crime, so innocent of brawling.

Virginia Tech had the headlines in the last few days and reminded us of the violence for which the US is well known.

But most American lives were as peaceful on this anniversary as they are every day.

[Cloud]

very interesting. are there gangs of drunken youths caroming around suburban Britain? or, maybe it's not a paradox--maybe we feel so safe because we have all these guns. dunno.

[Cloud]

maybe there's a perception that the US is dangerous (at least more dangerous than other places) because of tv and movies.

here's another article. It does say that "women entering a bar or restaurant alone can be perceived as 'looking for company'" which I'm not sure I agree with. A bar, yes--a restaurant, not so much.

http://www.usatourist.com/english/tips/safety.html

[regular.joe]

There is a perception overseas that because we have all these guns, and gangs, and urban bullshyte, and we are the wild west. It's oh so dangerous.

We don't have soccer huligans tho.....

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Cloud

are there gangs of drunken youths caroming around suburban Britain?

From my experience, most definitely yes. I see rampant displays of racism daily, too: people verbally and, less commonly, physically abusing someone they perceive as foreign.

Hell, my girlfriend and I are about as normal, everyday looking as it gets, and we get taunted quite a lot.

Ah, Newcastle: where the sidewalks run slick with vomit, styrofoam and discarded kebap refuse.

[limey]

Sad but true.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

Ah, Newcastle: where the sidewalks run slick with vomit, styrofoam and discarded kebap refuse.

sounds like many,many dorm areas I know of....good times.


Also: Perry Winkle: if one were to be invited up to Newcastle, should one bring coal? I've heard this expression many times...

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Also: Perry Winkle: if one were to be invited up to Newcastle, should one bring coal? I've heard this expression many times...

The expression I've heard is that when something is pointless you're "bringing coal to Newcastle." The area around here used to be known for coal mining. They used to also have a thriving manufacturing industry, but I think most of that has died out, hence all the poverty.

North-east England reminds me a lot of the deep south in the States.

[TheMercenary]

"One reason - perhaps the overriding reason - is that there is no public drunkenness in polite America, simply none.

I have never seen a group of drunk young people in the entire six years I have lived here. I travel a lot and not always to the better parts of town. "

Obviously they have never been to Savannah during St. Pats or NO during the Mardi Gras.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Cloud

very interesting. are there gangs of drunken youths caroming around suburban Britain?

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

From my experience, most definitely yes. I see rampant displays of racism daily, too: people verbally and, less commonly, physically abusing someone they perceive as foreign.

Originally Posted by limey

Sad but true.

For the sake of balance.
I have never heard anyone be directly racist to another person in my life. 35 years in England and not one verbal or physical address. I've heard muttered comments. I've heard racist jokes. I've overheard racist views, but they have only been espoused in peer groups - mostly in pubs, mostly by old men. Occasionally unwitting racism from the sort of people who have friends in a different ethnic group but think they must be different - it's "the other type" they have a problem with.

And yes - there is a problem with drink culture in Britain. But again - I have not seen drunken youths "in suburbia". Certainly not where I live. I lived on the main route between the Uni and the city centre in Leicester. Yes, drunken youths did roll up the street in the early hours of the morning. But it was a University town.

And yes I know there are hotspots where people are apparently afraid to go out because of drunken misbehaviour. But the media blow it out of proportion imho. There are areas worldwide where people are afraid to leave their houses. If the worst we have in the UK is that after 23.00 people think they might encounter a bunch of half cut slappers that will fall over on their own, let alone if they're pushed, then I don't see that as dowtown Baghdad.

Oh and the papers love to blame the Govt. And the tabloids love to blame the parents (under the influence of the Govt). And the parents love to blame the teachers. And the teachers blame the parents under the influence of the media. Well if we have such a generation of degenerates I say do a King Herod, slaughter the lot and make people apply for child permits to reproduce in future. That'll halt the damn liberal slide into hell, right?

(Sorry, rant above influenced by Radio 5 phone in last week that I couldn't beleive what I was hearing).

[TheMercenary]

Type in "Racism in the UK" in Google. There is plenty of info there.

[Sundae]

Merc I'm certainly not saying it doesn't exist. Of course it does, in the UK as in every country. And I'm not claiming Perry is lying.

I'm just balancing Perry's experience in Newcastle against my own in Bucks, Herts, Oxon, Leics, London and anywhere I've been on a visit or holiday. The same way you would if someone related something they'd seen in their 6 months in your country that you hadn't experienced in 35 years.

[TheMercenary]

SG, And I did not mean to put you on the defense. The people who I have personally known from the UK are not very fond of people of color or the huge influx of Arab/Persian/Indians(India). Strange that with such a small exposure to the people of the UK that I have had I experienced such an opposit experience. I keep my mind open.

[Ibby]

My friend Ryan was drunk (on 10 shots of rum in as many minutes) before noon sunday, before I even woke up.
that is all.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

"One reason - perhaps the overriding reason - is that there is no public drunkenness in polite America, simply none.

I have never seen a group of drunk young people in the entire six years I have lived here. I travel a lot and not always to the better parts of town. "

Obviously they have never been to Savannah during St. Pats or NO during the Mardi Gras.

Nor have they heard of Daytona! Any week in the spring will do.