reply to post by Grumble
It's not as bad as you make it.
I live here, I see the "gangs" on the streets...however these "gangs" are generally just stupid teenagers who haven't really got any issues just
hanging out. Yes you get some idiots, but you do everywhere.
A few years ago I came out of a supermarket and witnessed three 18-20 ish year olds start on a young guy in a suit. Now, I for one learnt not to
tolerate crap from anyone a long time ago, because if you do, they'll keep doing it. Now these guys could of had knifes, but when seeing the guy
being kicked and punched my "instinct" if you like kicked in. I dropped the bags I was carrying and shouted "WTF do you think you're doing" and
did my best version of the T-1000 fast walk. I continued to shout as I approached so that anyone in the area would know that something is going on. As
I got with a few meters they ran. I helped the guy up and made sure he was OK. He was, just a bit shaken. I asked him to go to the supermarket and
call the police. I then (without thinking) ran after them.
I chased them for 5 minutes and one of the "gang" happened to be a bit of a chubby chap and almost collapsed out of breath. I grabbed him and he
almost wet his pants. He started blubbering that it wasn't him, he didn't do anything it was the others. So I asked him why they did it, he said
because the guy looked at them funny.
I had a rant at him for a bit, asking if I should kick the crap out of him for looking at me funny. Tears started to roll down his cheek, and felt
sorry for him. He and his mates were just a bunch of insecure individuals that were victims of a paranoid society.
The problem here is that, and maybe in America, is that immature kids with no real worldly experience are having kids of their own. They are missing
stable foundations. Thinking that money and "respect" is what life is about.
You see this stuff everyday on TV, these aren't hardened criminals, they are just kids that are making very big mistakes without understanding their
actions or the consequences.
Do I know the answer to this, no. Tougher laws, no, I don't think so.
I'd like to point out that if I lived in a country where the arability of guns a rife, then I don't think I would have done the above. I myself
would be more likely to be part of the paranoid society and would be a bystander in situation like this.
Just to finish off, I let the guy go and returned to the supermarket, (my bags were still there

) and went inside and asked about the guy in the
suit. He never went into the supermarket, nor called the police. Just went home.
We have had a few instances in the UK where situation like mine have resulted in the intervener being killed. But I still think that if you let
people walk all over you, then they will. If we lived in a society where people did not just stand and watch but intervened then I feel that the
number of similar situations would decrease, as who would create a situation where they know that anyone in view would not tolerate it?
Just my 2 pence.