The Room 101 thread - for things you hate or just having a bloody good moan

[Snowy]

loathing of gypsies is a stance taken by a disturbing proportion of the British public.

I do struggle with this, and what I am about to write could cause offense, but it is absolutely not meant to.

I don't know if there is a distinction between gypsies and pikeys (indeed the term could be the Roma N-word, like I say I am not looking to offend). I live in a fairly small town and we quite regularly see incursions of pikeys. They recently broke into ground near an electrical substation and parked up their caravans and refused to move until legally evicted. When they departed, it was to break into another area nearby where the whole sorry saga was repeated. At each site, when they left they left behind loads of rubbish for others to clean up after them, and had also left human shit crapped out in the open. Presumably this was some kind of 'fuck you' as I am sure their caravans will have toilets.

I have no idea if crime in the region went up while they were in the area. Local social media would suggest it but that is hardly a reliable source. Likewise I am sure there is a chicken and egg scenario at play where they know nobody wants them camping up so the 'fuck you' mentality would be easy to foster.

My point is, they don't do themselves any favours with the rest of the populace. I have really ummed and ahhed before posting this and am still not sure it is sensible.

[Wrathbone]

Snowy’s a monster, get ‘im!

Nah, don’t worry, I know this isn’t about race, it’s about individuals and their actions. I’ve heard of similar things with travellers round here, and it’s a sad state of affairs that genuine problems can’t be addressed without the topic of racial abuse coming into it. There are racists in this country who hate gypsies and travellers for that reason, though, and they use criminal actions from some of them as fuel for their arguments. It’s a bit like how you can’t criticise the Israeli government’s actions in a public setting without suggestions of antisemitism being thrown around (despite Amnesty now classifying Israel as an apartheid state).

[Alan]

I always remember a night when some were camped out in a field half a mile from my parents and they tried to nick their neighbors trailer. My dad chased them up the street in his slippers and housecoat and got it back. He was over 70 at that point.

[Sly Boots]

Just took Max (our dachshund) for a walk, and it was genuinely one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. We were walking through out local park, when suddenly two of the biggest dogs I've ever seen came hurtling out of the dark and went for him. Seriously, these things were the size of ponies, and they wanted to get at him. When I realised what was happening I picked him up in a flash, but standing on their back legs these things were as tall as I was, barking and snapping at him.

Eventually their pathetic owner, murmuring their names at a sub-audible level, took one of them by the collar, but the other one continued to go for us as I tried walking away. Eventually three passersby were able to save us from it.

Still shaking. Furious about what very nearly could have happened. Those dogs were never under control and shouldn't have been off-leash. The passerby who helped later told me they're Hungarian Vizlers... look them up, they're fucking huge. Apparently he's had a small dog they've gone for previously, and he's had to kick them away. Gave the owner both barrels.

Got back and discovered a big rip in his snowsuit, either from bite or scratch... very lucky he was wearing it.

Fucking asshole dog owner.

[Wrathbone]

Oh man, that sounds harrowing. I hope poor (real life) Waffles is okay!

[eny]

We get that a lot out in the sticks here. People get these high energy breeds but don't wear them out enough, or think because it's the countryside they can just let them run free so they don't have to keep up with them. The amount of sheep attacks and abortions from "he wouldn't hurt a fly-he's never done that before" dogs is ridiculous. It is always the owners at fault.

[Raid]

One of the reasons I haven't yet gotten a dog (admittedly not a massive factor) is because I'm worried I wouldn't be able to train it properly. I suspect this is a thought that such owners have never had.

[eny]

Exercise-discipline-affection, it really is as simple as that.

Pent up all day, over-excitement and affection when you come home, bomb everywhere on a walk, is not good for the animal, at all.

The secret is keeping everything in low gear, no 1 to 10 instant ramping type stuff. A dog will signal its first alert before it commits to a bolt. Most owners scream after the dog is top gear and becomes deaf.

[Sly Boots]

Oh man, that sounds harrowing. I hope poor (real life) Waffles is okay!

Yeah, thanks. He's a bit shaken (we both are), and sticking to me like glue this evening, he was already a bit on the anxious side so hopefully it hasn't set him back too much.

Probably the worst aspect for me is that my wife usually does the afternoon/evening walk and that's her usual place to go, I just had a bit of a full-on day with work and wanted to stretch my legs so offered to do it tonight. She's shorter than me, so what might have happened if it had been her there instead of me doesn't bear thinking about. I tried forcing my daughter to come with me as well, she refused because she was glued to a screen, I've never been more happy for her to give me the brush off!

[Snowy]

That is really horrifying Alan. I have had some dogs have a go at Misty before, and she is a leggy border collie so not a small breed. There is absolutely no excuse, if your dog ignores commands and recall then it should be on a leash, no ifs, no buts.

[Rusty]

My friend at work had her dachshund attacked and killed whilst out on a walk. Absolutely horrible.

I've got 2 lurchers that tend to just run away from anything they don't like.

[Sly Boots]

My friend at work had her dachshund attacked and killed whilst out on a walk. Absolutely horrible.

I've got 2 lurchers that tend to just run away from anything they don't like.

Jesus, that's terrible, and just what I was afraid of happening last night. I did read that despite being scrappy little dogs (or perhaps because of it), a disproprtionately high number of dachshunds get seriously hurt or killed by other dogs.

[Rossell]

Good lord that sounds awful. Hope you all get back to normal soon.

[Solitaire]

What are all these snippets of 'being on stage/hanging around bands' all about? Am I chatting on a forum of band members that are famous?

I've played bass guitar for about 30 years, yeah. Toured twice in the Southern US, in two different all-original bands. Been on three CDs - well, one was a cassette tape, I'm just that f'ing old haha. So yeah, I was almost a rock star

[Rusty]

Noice