Busy night

[sewer rat]

What a night ! Private eighteenth party in club - so bound to be grief -kids ssmuggling in alcohol, fake id's etc - but our normal punters who couldn't get into the club just seemed to go daft tonight - colleague threatened with stabbing, boy knocked unconscious and got a broken jaw in a fight on the front steps of the pub, evicted two guys who were too drunk and being a nuisance to other customers - their mates then kicked off and so we threw them out - one took serious exception and it took three of us to remove him forcibly - my arms are in shreds. Police called three times, ambulance once. Just another Friday in a wee quiet Highland township !

[bubblewrap]

This is a Nation wide problem Rat, I won't go out at night these days because of the mindless drunken idiots(a lot of them students ) that invade! Loughborough town centre at night & this not just at the week end.
I really don't know what the answer is maybe a spell in the army(I would never have said this a few years ago) I would not expect them to do front line duties but to be taught a little respect.
While the police are dealing with the drunks they are not catching the real criminals.
I don't think putting the price of alcohol up would be fair on the rest of us moderate drinkers & a lot of pubs are struggling anyway.
I could add more but I would sound like a bigot which I'm not.
Rant over

Sorry you had to sort out this episode & the drunken fools will be dealt with.

[Oleander]

When my eldest son turned 18 three years ago, we went to buy an 18th birthday card. Other than a couple of really soppy ones, every card celebrated the fact that the best thing about being 18 is legal access to alcohol and plenty of it!

It really brought home to me how important alcohol is in British culture, if that was the most celebrated and important thing about becoming 18. Even though I enjoy the odd glass here and there, I think that's really sad.

I'd be interested to hear from any of our French correspondents if it's the same there too.

Oleander

p.s. something else I've been wondering about for a while now - how little sleep do you manage on Rat? how many hours out of 24? I wish I had half your energy!

[Nicos]

Ah the peace and calm of living in a rural area!!!

Oleander- yup- it's starting here too - but not as bad as UK yet

[Hilary B]

One aspect of the alcohol problem is the fact that there IS a 'minimum age'. That means that kids see it as adult to drink, and they get sillier about it than they would otherwise do. When you add in the attitude that 'socialising' is age-dependant, you get a lot of silly kids (some of them legally adult, but actually far from it) competing to get as drunk as they can.
My kids were allowed small amounts of well-diluted alcohol from a relatively early age (weak shandy or watered wine with a meal, when WE were drinking wine or beer with that meal), and by the time they were 'of age' took it as one of the many things that need a sensible approach. While they did a bit of the teenage/early20s silliness, it was relatively slight, and they grew out of it sooner than a lot of their contemporaries.
I can't avoid the impression that parental attitude is a major factor, although 'peer pressure' always seems most potent in the most regrettable directions.....

[Digger-07]

What a night ! Private eighteenth party in club - so bound to be grief -kids ssmuggling in alcohol, fake id's etc - but our normal punters who couldn't get into the club just seemed to go daft tonight - colleague threatened with stabbing, boy knocked unconscious and got a broken jaw in a fight on the front steps of the pub, evicted two guys who were too drunk and being a nuisance to other customers - their mates then kicked off and so we threw them out - one took serious exception and it took three of us to remove him forcibly - my arms are in shreds. Police called three times, ambulance once. Just another Friday in a wee quiet Highland township !

Must speak to the solicitor on Tuesday and see if I can pull out of the deal. The idea of moving to the highlands is to get away from normal towny nights out.

[janeyo]

rat I should be glad of the peace and quiet when you are doing your day job - it will give you the strength mentally to cope with the night job!

We were on a rare night out last night in Cambridge for dinner and the number of drunken idiots milling about was staggering. I was driving and had to swerve and almost stop severalt imes to avoid people falling off kerbs etc.

No sign of the credit crunch affecting people's ability to dink themselves silly round here...