Scooter Rant

[Timbo]

Now calm yourself Iain...not one of them. I'm talking about those idiotic tiny scooters you see young teenagers pratting about on. Two incidents with these this week as the secondary school teachers finally get the kids off the streets. 

The stupid practise of swinging these things around the steering axle caused what I would call an horrific accident when a sixteen year old span the scooter while standing outside the door of our local SPAR for it to hit a five year old walking with her mum into the shop and cut the little girls arm quite badly. No apology from the teen, no waiting to see if his victim was OK, just a mouth full of abuse before trying to make a break for it. Don't  know what the outcome was, I only hope the little girl is OK?

Second incident, same location different sixteen year old on another one of those damned scooters. Spins the damned scooter again and puts a dent and slices the metal skin on my car door leaving my car unsafe. Unfortunately for this teenager I was stood behind him. To make the idiot's situation worse he'd tried the 'effing and blinding' only to realise I had a bigger and better vocabulary. He then tried the 'bet you didn't have scooter's when you were a kid' trick but my observation that once a kid of my generation reached the age of six we had more self respect not wanting to be seen dead on a baby's scooter. His final mistake was not realising I knew his Dad. Damage to my car is paid for and replacement door and respray being done tomorrow. And as an added bonus there is small scooter peeping out of my wheelie bin in the moonlight waiting to be picked up by the bin men tomorrow.

I just hope that little girl is OK!

[BroadScot]

Hi Tim,

I too hope the little girl is OK.  I agree with you 100% in all you say, and did ! For a millisecond you had me worried though with the headline ! 

Iain

[Gracie]

Poor little girl, hope she is ok too. If it had been one of my little ones I would probably get arrested, a swift smack round the head with my handbag would probably knock someone clean out the amount of stuff I carry in it

Grace

[Bound2Please]

48 minutes ago, Gracie said:

Poor little girl, hope she is ok too. If it had been one of my little ones I would probably get arrested, a swift smack round the head with my handbag would probably knock someone clean out the amount of stuff I carry in it

Grace

So like all females you carry the kitchen sink every where with yer darlin

Charlie

[Timbo]

Just got back from dropping my Gracie off at school and saw the little girl going into school with a pink bandage on her arm. A cut that bled more than they thought it should do and quite a bit of bruising. Mum said that she left 'Grandad' to deal with the culprit and his secondary school. I've also contacted the secondary school suggesting that the stupid contraptions are not a suitable mode of transport and should be discouraged.

Kids...If you must have a scooter gang at least get a scooter that can support a sizeable number of wing mirrors...oh and get yourselves some decent music!

[grendel]

Just remember, you are not allowed to give the little darlings a clip round the ear, or wildfuzz may be coming round to give you a caution.

I had this happen once, when reprimanding a local yob for throwing stones at my daughter, he then started throwing them at me- I responded as my dad would have when I was young, and he stopped doing it.

He then ran home to his parents and told them, who promptly called the police.

I was given a warning by an older constable, who afterwards then told me it was about time somebody had done it. we never did have any more trouble from that boy.

All I know is that if I had come home complaining of being clipped round the ear, my dad would have given me another for good measure.

So be warned never to clip them round the ear.

I am sorry the girl was hurt, and your car damaged, but hopefully with the combinaton of events you may be able to get the offending articles banned from being taken to that school. (more especially if they were wearing a school uniform when the events occurred)

[BroadScot]

Oh here I go again off topic, sort of, but with a similar theme. I had a cheeky apprentice in 1970, told him to go and make the tea at the building site howf. His reply was, am no makin tea am not a "tea boy"wellll in those days you gave them a gentle reminder who was BOSS! Yup a clip round the earhole was applied. Greetin face buggered off home in a tiz, shoutin al get ma faither to you! Oops !

Anyway, the following morning back at the workshop, greetin face arrived with his faither, who came and asked who had clipped his son on said earhole, twas me says I to his faither, his faither promptly clobbered greetin face even harder than I had! Oops! His dad told me, in future hit him as hard as you like, it may knock some sense into him!

As you say Grendel, the law is a tad different these days !!!

Iain

[Wildfuzz]

Scooters..... back in the late 70`s it was skateboards, I was a proud member of the "Vertical Vipers Skate Club" in Colchester, looking back they were as dangerous to the non competing public as we whizzed through the castle park at breakneck speed using smaller kids and elderly residents as slalom poles and jumping curbstones and the war memorial steps. If you were unlucky enough to get toppled the board would shoot out from under you at a vast rate of knots until it hit the nearest object, person, pet or car! And going home we would catch onto the back of a bus or lorry and get pulled to our destination (Back to the future style).

 

So looking back I was as inconsiderate as the described scooter riders, luckily apart from skinned knees and elbows I don't recall anyone getting seriously hurt, perhaps more luck than judgement

[BroadScot]

For me it was sitting on a old book on top of a roller skate fleein doon a hill orrrrr find an old pram and make a bogie ! Happy days !As for skateboarders.....hooligans !!!!

Iain 

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Iain,

You and me both, both with the old book on the roller skate and making trolleys, squeegee mops used for brakes on the rear wheels (the squeegee pads removed and replaced with wooden blocks).

Both great for going down the hills, the only drag was having to walk back up the hill.

Regards

Alan

 

[BroadScot]

35 minutes ago, ranworthbreeze said:

squeegee mops used for brakes 

Alan,

What brakes ! Yer gutties were the brakes on ours !!

Iain

[Paul]

Scooters, don't get me started. What? Ah yes, you already did. 

Jamie attends the village infant school, which is reached from our house via a footpath, or as we call it, a "jitty". Long, straight, narrow and markedly uphill from us to the school. That means walking home it is downhill, a racetrack for children from the school, or younger siblings (sub 4 years old) on these micro scooters or pedal-less and brake-less bikes.

They are a menace. I have lost count how many times Jamie or I have been run into by children on these things. On one occasion last term Jamie had his trousers torn and leg cut by one such incident which I duly reported to the school. Whilst expressing concern they also admitted that they were not keen to discourage children riding to school as it offered a healthy alternative to travelling by car. 

The fact remains that the footpath is, as it's name suggests for travelling along on foot. It is not a cycle path or bridleway, it is too narrow. I have stressed that if there is a recurrence I will involve the police, though every time I collect Jamie from school I witness one or more near misses. 

What really annoys me is the attitude of the parents. "Oh, they are only children". We were only kids once. I had a scooter. It was green, though that was probably not it's original colour. It was very much third hand and had been repainted above once. It was made from tubular steel and should have had a wooden tread board on which to stand, though that had long since rotted away and so you stood on the steel tube which was polished shiny by the use of many pairs of feet. I went miles on it, but I knew two things. I stayed off the road and kept clear of other people. If not I got a clip around the ear. Sadly these days most children are not taught respect at this young age, and what Timbo witnessed is the result. The children need educating, and the parents a good boot up the arrrrrr - sorry mustn't swear!

[Timbo]

OK I found something quite entertaining this evening. Granddaughter Gracie (4) attended one of her new school friends parties today. The party was held at one of those kiddies soft play areas. Apparently one boy aged around eight or nine who was not a guest at the party had decided, after biting one of the other younger kids, that he would pick on Gracie hitting her over the head with a cloth sack he had filled with a tonka truck and other 'hard' objects. His parents disinterested in their their little sh lad's actions until Gracie turned round and punched him in the head. Then they complained their eight or nine year old son had been traumatised and beaten up... by a four year old girl dressed as a fairy.

I'm with Paul on this one the kids do need educating and the parents do need a kick up up the backside. 

[grendel]

just like the fairy in the film scrooged.