to be very unbothered that an EVIL hoard of (shock, horror) GYPSIES are coming...

[BeyondLimitsOfTheLivingDead]

I had a request to join a group on facebook a few days ago, "say no to the gypsy camp in ".
I ignored it, thinking, "yeah whatever, random facebook scaremongering".

Today, three teenage boys knocked my door with a petition, to stop this (apparently it is real) camp being built near enough on my doorstep.

But I just dont care.

AIBU to not be bothered by this? Or naive?

When I walk along our canal path, one part of it is marred by horrendous household litter - plastic bottles, cans and so on. This part of the path runs behind the travellers' camp. I have no idea if the two are connected.

What I do wish is that whoever is dumping their litter there with such callous and lazy disregard for the environmental impact would bloody well stop doing it. For the record, I don't care what race they are, what religion they are, or what culture they are. I just wish they would stop being so fecking bone idle.

'Every person on here who has related having a bad experience with travellers has accepted their own experience wouldn't taint their view of all travellers. The trouble is some people just like to jump on the pc bandwagon because they think it makes them better than others.'

Leaving aside the 'PC bandwagon' comment, which doesn't deserve notice --
there comes a point where the piling on of bad experiences becomes a case of adding to a stereotype. Problems are publicised by people. They do not publicise themselves.

People have a duty to follow the law and refrain from contributing to racial stereotyping. If you identify the ethnicity of the people at whose hands you have suffered a bad experience then you are contributing to a negative view of all the people of that ethnicity.

Piling on individually eventually becomes a communal avalanche and contributes to the demonisation of an entire group. The result is teenagers bearing petitions to the OP's door and campaigns on FB before they even arrive at a legal site.

yanbu, i live right next to one

"Probably live in a nice place"
Thats the thing though, its not a nice pretty suburb, its a council estate. I think its very hypocritical of these people if theyre not being racist. A lot of them are long-term unemployed and with various problems (obviously not everyone!), its not a "pretty" area, so theres no worry of it being "ruined", so the three points above dont apply?

Make no difference whether the stories are true or untrue.

It is the fact that they are repeated ad nauseum that matters. Two wrongs do not make a right. In fact, the repeating of these experiences or allegations contribute to polarisation.

And to address some things said about them -- your description of them sounds like my Irish farming ancestors. Cash based work, leaving school at 14 and maybe even fighting (grandad was a member of the IRA in the War of Independence and a Republican in the Civil War) all featured in their lives.

I know it bothers my DH, but I just can't get upset about it. They've got to live somewhere; they've been (rightly) evicted from the illegal portion of Dale Farm. But they can't just live on the sides of roads! They need proper campsites; with a regular rubbish collection and water and electricity.

So many people agree with this sentiment, but have a mentality of 'not in my back yard'.

I certainly would NOT sign the petition! YANBU!

Beyondthelimits, let us know how it goes.

Are they from dale farm op. The thing is they have to live somewhere. They have encountered racism moving into social housing and dont want to be there anyway. They will just put pressure on already massive housing lists. They cant travel as they laybys and rest stops have been removed. They are recognised as an ethnic minority and by being so have rites to the way they live.

The ones in my town have been there for over 20 years. My SIL also has the other NE site next to her. My GFIL deals with them as he is a farrier and shoe supplier. Some of them are also tree surgeons. Its a council owned site and honestly they are fine.

If they're from Dale Farm, they've had quite a drive! [hgrin]

YANBU

I accept other people's experiences differ but I never ahd any problems from the camp near my home.

And yes; what itspeanut said really.

The nearest group I know of to where we lilve now live alongside a major thouroughfayre separated only by moveable fences, next to a derelict buidling in the industrial area of our city. NOT a nice site at all.

Can't they purchase their own land like I had to purchase my own home?

Who says they havent bought it? OP yanbu.

Of course you're not.

But may I just say that I think you meant 'horde'?

YANBU but are they gypsies or travellers? You are being a bit naive though.

Why did that get deleted?

I'll rephrase;

The next time I want to build without planning permission I'll tell the council I'm a traveller then perhaps I'll get 10 years free reign on the land.

Hoard: accumulation or collection, as in 'hoard of treasure'.

Horde: large crowd or number, as in 'Genghis Khan and the Mongol horde'.

It's really bugging me.

As you were

my doziness in using the wrong word was already pointed out upthread!
Meh, you know what I meant

YANBU.
As it is a legal site, I agree that it is nobody's business but those directly involved. If the arrival of these travellers did cause legitimate problems, I could see why people would be upset, but before anything has even happened its a bit silly.

On the subject of hoards and hordes, we went to see the Frome Hoard today in the newly re-opened Museum of Somerset. I think that Somerset towns being what they tend to be on a Saturday night, the Frome Horde would be quite a different thing altogether. And not pretty