Well, tonight the skull-duggery really hit home - after being a touch longer on the cycle back to Islington (thanks to a puncture barely a mile from Lee Valley), I set out to get some groceries for the week ahead, only to be thwarted by the chaos that was steadily engulfing nearby Hackney. The supermarket closed early as an eerie edginess took hold. Helicopters hovered in the neighbouring street, sirens howled ever closer & youths with their hoods pulled up, cycled around excitedly talking into mobile phones trying to play at being thugs. Not to worry, thought I, back to Islington & to the Sainsbury or Tesco Metro stores - only they, along with all the other shops on the main road were closed & shutters pulled down. So, here I am with no fruit or vegetables in the house & no food for lunch tomorrow...& that makes me angry!!!
So here's my rant - what the hell do these selfish, inconsiderate morons think they are trying to achieve whilst disrupting the lives of the hard working people that have respect for their neighbours & the community in which they live. Far more to the point, I turned on the TV to see a family business of 5 generations up in smoke because some low-life lay abouts want to loot & create playground anarchy on their own high streets. They claim they have no opportunities in life...well, you know what, life is tough, I was out of work & I did something about it. I got off my backside & created an opportunity for myself by setting up a business or two. Maybe I'm lucky that I had a good education...yes, & I'm grateful for that but did Lord Alan Sugar go to university? No, he just got on & worked hard to make himself a career. No excuses. These idiots have no respect, no morals & no sense of responsibility - it truly disgusts me.
Every day I work with athletes, many of whom come from similar backgrounds to these cowardly troublemakers & judging by the broadcast messages that I have seen on their Blackberries, they could easily have been caught up in this...but they had the pride in themselves & the responsibility to take their life in their hands, sacrificing everyday to make something of the potential they undoubtedly have. These guys are a shining light & I am proud to say I work with them. In stark contrast, I am embarrassed to say that I walk the same streets as these hooded wasters - bring in the Army & sort them out!
One of my favourite blogs is www.Boston.com/bigpicture - it tells the stories from across the World in striking photographic images. Click on the link below & I implore you to look through them. There is an image of an 89 year old man, carefully going through his damaged barbers shop that he has run as a business for generations...mindlessly set upon by ridiculous urban hooligans; another image portrays a local mother carefully walking her young children through the aftermath of the streets of Tottenham & yet another of a magnificent example of London architecture that has looked down upon Tottenham High Street for years, now burnt to a groaning shell. This is simply not acceptable & these actions cannot be left unanswered.
