thugs? schmugs!
So, our trip to the Uk was delightful in every way. Of great amusement was the warning upon landing, from my family, that we should keep our wits about us because there are muggers around. Muggers? Puhleeese! I am a Sarf Efrican, I eat muggers for breakfast. Pom criminals stood no chance. We don’t realise until we go elsewhere just how street smart and aware we are coming from one of the world’s crime capitals. We must have smelled like trouble to the pickpockets etc because we were harassed NOT ONCE. Closest was my near sexual harassment of a particularly beautiful Italian waiter in Camden.
The six days my daughters and I spent in London were fabulous. We were entirely without fear and only hit the hay at about midnight every night. We negotiated all forms of public trandsport, Soho on a Friday night after Mary Poppins (fucking supreme show) and hordes of people as we did a few mainstream tourist things. All without incident.
It was strange for the kids being somewhere they could walk the streets and catch buses without any fear. For all its nanny-stateness, the UK makes you feel very personally safe.
We stayed in a Chelsea hotel while in London and there was the usual constant city traffic noise and lots of police sirens. Two days in, Purple Dot was peering out of the window at cop cars and says:
“It’s nice to know the police are doing their job here.”
She is eight.
Anyway, more about the trip as things occur to me.
Flutter said,
August 23, 2007 at 9:59 am
Ahhh! So Thatch, you’re in the UK.
And KC its not just the UK. One feels safe anywhere outside SA.
Enjoy!
Semisweet said,
August 23, 2007 at 10:34 am
So weird that you should post this today. The day that I had an experience with the crime in this country. A friend of mine is living with me for a while till he can get back on his feet cos things have been going really bad for him. So he finally finds a good job and things are now looking up. He wants to get his own place now so that he can start moving forward.
Not if the criminals in this country have anything to say abt it though!!!!!
This morning he goes downstairs to leave for work…his car is gone. Stolen! Right out the security controlled complex. Can someone please explain that to me. How does that happen?
This country is so fucked up.
K Chasu said,
August 23, 2007 at 11:17 am
flutterkins – i WAS in the UK. got back after two glorious weeks yesterday.
and semisweet – yup. there is a lot wrong here. took a few days before my kids realised what was wrong with what they were seeing – no high walls, electric fencing or palisades. no ADT guys either.
hahaha.
contemplating a move, to be honest.
Semisweet said,
August 23, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Ive also been thinking abt moving. I love this country and believe it has alot to offer but the crime is just out of control. No one seems to care.
The attitude at the police station this morning when we went to report it was just as bad. They dont care…why should they, it doesnt affect them at all.
If they have the nerve to come into the complex and steal a car, what stops them from getting into the unit? Clearly they have a way out so its not like they gonna be trapped.
This is all just so upsetting. Dont think it will ever get better either.
I hate being so negative abt all of this but its frustrating! You work so hard for what you have and for what you get (no one gives it to you on a silver platter) and then someone thinks that they have the right to just walk in and take it away. What gives them that right?
K Chasu said,
August 23, 2007 at 12:43 pm
i am generally optimistic about south africa, but i had forgotten what it was like to be somewhere where the burning issue of the day is that people are not recycling properly, or that teenagers are drinking too much. or that a child went missing. one child. not found raped and murdered, just missing.
here we deal with the most heinous crimes rammed in our faces as we drive to work in the morning, rampant corruption and no inkling of personal safety.
i can’t decide whether the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to living in the wild west that we occupy. i used to talk about our lifestyle here. the truth is that i live in a self-built prison. what lifestyle can that possibly afford me?
it’s hard to make a big decision, so I am choosing to avoid it for now. but my myopic view of SA has changed and I am no longer investing money here. it can all go overseas. just in case. you know?
vapour said,
August 23, 2007 at 4:40 pm
KC I was distraught to read that no sooner was I out of sight/site than you were talking and flirting with some Italian refugee in London. I would remind you that Pepperoni is not all it is made out to be! Ja the choices of our time are not easy and perhaps the world has decided to go backwards, in that case I suspect Europe will re-invade Africa which perhaps it is already doing.