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Posts Tagged ‘spitting’

High Street Changes

Posted in Inner city, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 28 June, 2011| 7 Comments »

I drove into tow-un yesterday morning to get some messages (as the Scots like to say). As I was driving I noticed a few new shops that have opened recently that should give you the flavour of the boom industries in our neighbourhood. They were:

  • A Polish delicatessan. I think we must now have half a dozen of these shops in town now, along with a good few Polish hairdressers and beauticians. A sign of the changing face of immigration in the area – many Eastern Europeans have joined the mix that brings a buzz alongside many challenges and gives us 22 languages spoken in the homes of the children in our church primary school.
  • A new ‘wine’ shop. There are very many off licences in our high street, and all the grocers sell cheap booze along with the chapatti flour. I saw a chap who must have patronised one of the local off licences in the carpark of Lidl at 11am, rolling as he walked and clutching a bottle of Frosty Jack cider.
  • A Brook ‘Young People’s Health Shop’. A sad indicator of the ubiquity of the sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility that is the norm here and that contributes to the brokenness of so many lives around us.

Talking of my trip to Lidl, as I went into the shop a chap charmingly spat generously on the floor by his car, which his wife and child were sitting in. He looked shocked when I mentioned to him that his behaviour was both disgusting and a health hazard.

I didn’t wait to discuss it with him any further though, chicken that I am, and dashed into the shop to stock up on cheap sliced ham and fresh peaches.

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Spitting – A Brief Rant

Posted in Inner city, tagged , , , , , , , on 6 April, 2011| 6 Comments »

I had to pop into our local town centre just now. To buy replacement washing-up gloves after I’d sliced mine whilst washing-up an opened can (hazards of an eco-friendly lifestyle). And to raid W H Smith for Flippers, my new tactic with helping the Queen to be able to explain all the interesting words she knows for her 11+ exam in November. Last week she tried to explain some to me using actions, which I felt might not go down so well with the exam board.

One of the things that always strikes me as unusual in our town is the number of men who are about in the day. Some elderly, some probably shift workers  and others who work odd hours or run their own businesses, but sadly many of them don’t have any type of paid work – unemployment here is higher than the national average by quite a way.

And today, as I walked into town, one of those men spat on the floor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman do that. There is an abnormal amount of spitting in our locality. Yesterday I was taking the kids for their swimming  lesson at a local(ish) pool. A group of about half a dozen secondary school boys were outside chatting and two of them gobbed on the floor at the same time. I was so disgusted that I briefly berated them, to the acute embarrassment of my children. The offenders didn’t seem to be fussed.

Where do they learn to do this? I’m tempted to keep a range of hankies to hand out to offenders. I know I’m beginning to sound like an article in the Daily Mail, but I find it utterly revolting. And it’s the end of a long term. I’m glad we’re soon getting a break in rural Scotland, where I anticipate being free of the gobbing menace for a few days.

[Late edit: Seems like Enfield Council hate spitting as much as I do. Let’s hope Sandwell follow suit soon. I was shocked to find that it is now perfectly legal. Yuck]

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