The selfish world we live in.

[Peter Lake]

Do any members here believe in community spirit? When you want something for yourself, do you consider how it'd affect those that live around you?

My wife for the past two years has been fighting the council with the help of our police to get street lighting into a dangerous unlit area of where we live. Many people will complain but just won't pick up the phone and make that call or send that e mail. They sit behind their net curtains waiting for someone else to do it for them.

My wife over two years has been fobbed off and passed from one department to another along with being met with every excuse from council budgets to who owns what street. She's spent hours for two years investigating the bylaws in the area along with the council budgets, legalities and laws regarding street lighting which was no mean feat. She has called on residents to get support and although quick to complain, not one person would pen a letter or make a call for support.

Today, we learned that she's won and four new street lights will go in that area but how surprising now that locals are congratulating themselves?

[abbey]

I've worked hard in the past 6 years trying to engage My local community, it really can be an uphill struggle.

One thing this new government have promised is more community empowerment, hopefully it will happen.

I think people should have a say in what services money should be spent on, maybe then Julie will have more backing from the community as it can feel as if your banging your head against a brick wall when dealing with local councils, highways etc.

Fair play to her for sticking with it.

[G#Gill]

I have found, from my own personal experience, that neighbours stay behind their curtains and doors. They moan and groan constantly about, for instance, yobs gathering in gangs on the road, but they won't come out with us to send them away! We've always told them that if the neighbourhood got off it's backside and came out to these yobs, when they started to gather, the yobs would leg it! But they never do come out. They don't even write to the council or police. It's a case of 'I'll stay in my house and pretend I haven't seen anything'. It really is an uphill battle to try to get some neighbours to do something positive. They seem to be happy just to not get involved at all. Let somebody else deal with it !

A while ago, one neighbour (a fairly large fella), had left things to us to deal with, and never came out to help although he could see what was going on. Then one evening he thought that his car was under threat - he was out like a shot, armed with a length of 2 by 2 wood. The yobs legged it ! So it is rather selective innit? The guy hasn't been out since then, probably because nothing of his was under threat! :rolleyes:

[Peter Lake]

abbey;1316063 wrote: I've worked hard in the past 6 years trying to engage My local community, it really can be an uphill struggle.

One thing this new government have promised is more community empowerment, hopefully it will happen.

I think people should have a say in what services money should be spent on, maybe then Julie will have more backing from the community as it can feel as if your banging your head against a brick wall when dealing with local councils, highways etc.

Fair play to her for sticking with it.
Even a government can't force people to have community spirit although more empowerment to those who do could be an advantage. Even with more empowerment, someone has to get the ball rolling and i've found that ball is so often left to others while the rest sit back and wait for the results. When my wife put forward her proposals for this lighting, it was for everyone's benifit, the oap's struggling with potholes in an unlit road, children coming out of the school in the dark, dog walkers feeling safer, the list went on yet she campaigned alone dispite the whole community wanting the lighting.

As a war baby who can remember postwar spirit i feel that we now live in a very selfish society. Gill is right that we only care about rock throwing youths when It's our house coming under fire.

I can give many personal examples but another very recently was the closure of an off licence in the village where we saw alcohol being sold to schoolchildren. As soon as it was shut down, out came people stating how pleased they were and saying they had seen staff selling alcohol to youths with no id. Yet, why then were my wife and i the only one's willing to go on the stand with the police over it?

How do you make people care?

[Odie]

G#Gill;1316070 wrote: I have found, from my own personal experience, that neighbours stay behind their curtains and doors. They moan and groan constantly about, for instance, yobs gathering in gangs on the road, but they won't come out with us to send them away! We've always told them that if the neighbourhood got off it's backside and came out to these yobs, when they started to gather, the yobs would leg it! But they never do come out. They don't even write to the council or police. It's a case of 'I'll stay in my house and pretend I haven't seen anything'. It really is an uphill battle to try to get some neighbours to do something positive. They seem to be happy just to not get involved at all. Let somebody else deal with it !

A while ago, one neighbour (a fairly large fella), had left things to us to deal with, and never came out to help although he could see what was going on. Then one evening he thought that his car was under threat - he was out like a shot, armed with a length of 2 by 2 wood. The yobs legged it ! So it is rather selective innit? The guy hasn't been out since then, probably because nothing of his was under threat! :rolleyes:


I can see them being afraid Gill, when its right at your front door, people do tend to stay clear, just knowing that they may come back.

A couple of teens were hitting themselves with baseball bats, I phoned the police and told them and asked them not to come in my driveway, sure enough, the cops showed up, drove into my driveway.



I yelled at them, 'you wonder why the public doesn't phone for help anymore?'

now you've just shown them who made the call.:rolleyes:

[Peter Lake]

Odie;1316088 wrote: I can see them being afraid Gill, when its right at your front door, people do tend to stay clear, just knowing that they may come back.

A couple of teens were hitting themselves with baseball bats, I phoned the police and told them and asked them not to come in my driveway, sure enough, the cops showed up, drove into my driveway.



I yelled at them, 'you wonder why the public doesn't phone for help anymore?'

now you've just shown them who made the call.:rolleyes: That's an issue you need to deal with by contacting the police superior and not by yelling at the officers when it was clearly a lack of communication between the control room and the arriving unit.

In this country, no caller even has to give their name let alone their address to report an incident. Our police are sympathetic and understand that the public are wary of getting involved and will attend all reports without having to give your name. When you do give your name, the police will phone you for an update to avoid calling at your home in full view of the criminal. Perhaps that's something you could campaign for in your country?

[Nomad]

Im anti social Peter Lake. I dont want to talk to my neighbors, I dont want them talking to me. In fact dont even look at me. Why look? That only plants the seed of engagement and we are trying to at all costs to avoid interaction.

Theres nothing they can say that will make me want to listen. Lets just keep it that way. If I see you approaching me I will run your dog over just to create a distraction long enough to make my escape.

If I were cornered into a situation that required conversing, if it were absolutely essential that they open their pie hole and mouth words, blah blah...blah blah blah blah bladdy bla bla, I would of course be attentive and polite but trust me Id be thinking about setting them on fire.

I mean really, have I ever in any way indicated Id be interested in anything they thought were pertinent? No of course not. Why? Because its not pertinent.

You are really stressing me out Peter.

[Peter Lake]

Nomad;1316094 wrote: Im anti social Peter Lake. I dont want to talk to my neighbors, I dont want them talking to me. In fact dont even look at me. Why look? That only plants the seed of engagement and we are trying to at all costs avoid interaction.

Theres nothing they can say that will make me want to listen. Lets just keep it that way. If I see you approaching me I will run your dog over just to create a distraction long enough to make my escape.

If I were cornered into a situation that required conversing, if it were absolutely essential that they open their pie hole and mouth words, blah blah...blah blah blah blah bladdy bla bla, I would of course be attentive and polite but trust me Id be thinking about setting them on fire.

I mean really, have I ever in any way indicated Id be interested in anything they thought were pertinent? No of course not. Why? Because its not pertinent.

You are really stressing me out Peter. Then i suggest we return to facebook forthwith and continue the debate on giant shrimp.

Yet, i sympathise fellow species for i Peter Lake find myself in similar encounters of bladdy blah blah with people that i secretly wish to set fire to. One of these is her with the hair up the town when going about my simple uncomplicated life, she bags me in the street to tell me in detail of her latest bunion complaint as if i care. I try Nomad, i try real hard to feign concentrated interest while secretly i long for a speeding truck to weave out of control and mount the pavement hitting her square on. Yet i remain polite and nod in agreement where i should and mutter sighs of empathy at the right moments until she has tired of me some hours later and her hawkish eyes scan the street for her next victem.

[Nomad]

Ok then we understand each other. People should be more like us.

What kind of ignition accelerant would you use on your insufferable neighbor?

[Peter Lake]

Nomad;1316120 wrote: Ok then we understand each other. People should be more like us.

What kind of ignition accelerant would you use on your insufferable neighbor?
Napalm has the desired effect and can be launched from a distance thus avoiding detection or i could smile whilst offering a bowl of the wife's homemade chilli knowing that after consumption their bowels would resemble a pit of burning hell leading them into a prolonged agonising death.

[LarsMac]

If you just said, "pissoff" and walked away, she would probably not trouble you again.

Of course you would have to walk fast to get out of range of her walking stick.

When I am accosted in such fashion, I let my Tourette's loose, and before long they have have decided they should have left well enough alone.

[Peter Lake]

LarsMac;1316153 wrote: If you just said, "pissoff" and walked away, she would probably not trouble you again.

Of course you would have to walk fast to get out of range of her walking stick.

When I am accosted in such fashion, I let my Tourette's loose, and before long they have have decided they should have left well enough alone.
:wah:

I'm afraid i'm just too polite for that but thank you for the tip.