To be depressed that we seem to be a nation

[manfromCUK]

of theives and vandals. I mean you can't leave anything around without it being stolen/smashed up or graffittied to crikey.

It's because you live in a shithole. I used to live in one. Now I live somewhere that's so shitty we seem to have based some kind of grudging community spirit on it and there's graffiti but no-one steals My in-laws don't live far from the shithole I grew up in yet they leave their door unlocked...

People used to shit on my car, pee on my front door and post used needles through my letter box. I hated life when I lived in England, the one and only time I called the Police because someone had set fire to a bus across the road, the operator told me it was a civil matter and that the police didn't have time to attend every time a nosy neighbour called. The bus station burned down taking with it my shed roof. 4 weeks later I left for the Middle East and will never, ever return full time. I hate the place.

its not harsh when people extrapolate from their crappy area to the whole country clearly erroneously.

I don't know anyone who lives in an area like that.

Graffiti and petty crime is not limited to ''crappy'' areas.

If you genuinely don't know anyone who lives in an area ''like that'' (and I can just imagine your genteel shudder as you say that :)) perhaps your social horizons need broadening a tad.

I think you miss my point Arfur. OP says the whole nation is becoming a land of graffitti and everything across the country is being stolen if left unattended.

I don't live in your country but I used to and I don't recognise that phenomenon. Neither does anyone else I know. Ergo OP is wrong. If the problem is particularly bad for you or OP, I submit you do in fact live in a shit-hole, which can easily masquarade as nice areas.

And nothing genteel about me, I grew up on a council estate and live in a very mixed spot, and I still don't recognise what the OP talks about. Actually it reads like a Daily Fail article.

I live in a very 'nice' part of the country but what is winding me up a lot is the amount of litter thrown out of cars onto roadside verges.

If you throw rubbish out of your car you should be made to walk up and down the roads picking it up with a sign on your back saying. 'I am a dirty anti-social git'.

The Op did make a rather sweeping generalisation. But it would be less of a interesting debate if he had posted ''to think that some people are petty thieves and vandals.''

However i still wonder if you live in some sort of gated community, or a rather limited social circle?
I certainly recognise the fact that there is grafiti in the majority of urban situations, (and even non-urban settings), and that if you leave something inadvertandly in a public place, there is a strong probability of it going walkies.

I live in a boardering rough area, yet i have never had a spot of trouble, ever, i never lock my door....i dont actually even have a front door key

The Asda that was built in twon a few years ago hired the local 'youvs' to grafiti tha wall as you drive out, i quite like it, and smile everytime i see the bit at the end where someone else has graffitied the grafiti

nope, I live in a coastal town near a city,not too far from a capital city as well with a mixed demographic of big houses, flats, a council estate, all kinds. We leave the pram outside the door because it doesn't fit inside, everyone leaves the kids bikes outside etc. Theres a bit of litter but we have a residents association and a litter team to deal with that. Theres the odd bit of graffitti on the railway bridge, but its small and infrequent.

I think thats the norm for most people.

Some years ago there was a young man in Sheffield who got 5 years for doing arty stuff
on a massive scale. (The sentence was reduced on appeal.)

He used to go out during the night and really
give those walls a wellying. I hope he ended up at art school.

"ManFromCUK. Didn't Contractor's UK (CUK) come trolling over here last year? They caused a huge ruck.

Let me guess...the OP is a scout for a new strike that will be hitting anytime soon.

Wonderful."

Yeah they did that - and I signed on here then to offer my apologies and say what a daft idea I thought it was (I argued that back on CUK too) - not that you evidently want to let the facts cloud your judgement.

I suppose one could call Banksy a vandal, technically....

...if any of my local ''artists'' are reading this, please can we have something like Balloon Girl rather than 'Fat Kev Sux Cok' on my fence. Please?

I hired a skip last year, filled it with crap as you do. Woke up the next day to find most of the stuff had been taken. Great, more room for even more of my crap!

What's that phrase, 'Someone's crap is someone else's treasure' ??

Meh, what LessNarky said.