So my quiet town had a visit from our traveller 'friends' this week and

[AndThatsWhatIThinkOfYou]

They wonder why people are so against them setting up camp where ever they please.

They arrived last Wednesday on a football field with a park and caused a whole load of trouble, for example, going to the petrol station handing over euros, being told they won't accept euros as payment, they simple got in their vans and drove of.

Made a visit to our local Sainsburys got caught shoplifting, were locked in until police were called.

Local children playing on park got beaten up with sticks by the traveller children.

And to top it all of 3 vans pulling up outside a local pub, very busy, dropping their trousers and all three disgusting men casually took a shit one by one on the pub doorstep. Got in there vans and drove of.

Then left the football field and park in an absolute mess. Rubbish everywhere.

Each incident police were called but nothing has been done.

So AIBU to wonder why travellers think this behavior is acceptable? and why can't anything be done to stop it?

Can I just point out that if anyone has had a good experience of travellers with one of the following:

A person connected to a circus,
A person operating a fairground ride
A person telling a fortune

You have probably not encountered a traveller. It'll either be a showman or a Roma. Hth

I knew it wouldn't be long before someone mentioned the jews-thank you for being so predictable andthatswhat

My dh has had many traveller clients. He has not a good word to say about one of them. The nature of his job brings him into contact with people on the very fringes of society. He has said that without exception ALL the travellers he has dealt with have been the most unpleasant he has ever met.

Note I said ALL THE ONES HE HAS MET-NOT ALL TRAVELLERS. For those playing the racist card.

Skyler I didn't say I hold that view of all travellers though, I actually said it would be wrong to do so. What I did say, is that from my RL experiences,a nd clearly many others as well, it is evident that this behaviour is pretty common and therefore it is no wonder travellers are often unwelcome.

As I said before, it is closed minded and ridiculous to ignore or deny that these events happen, and fairly regularly too. It is even more ridiculous to defend or justify that behaviour.

Did they not wipe their behinds after the said shitting incident. I find it a bit strange that they could all so readily shit in unison or is this something that all travellers are able to do? Some sort of a genetic anomaly only able to be performed by them? Just out of curiosity you see.

Apologies-that post was to Amessagetoyoni

Pinupgirl - you do know that Roma people were subject to the same dehumanising and genocidal treatment as the Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Europe? So it's not 'predictable' at all, as you so patronisingly put it.

I don't know maybe they were keeping it in till they found an appropriate place with people enjoying a quiet drink to offend

So who pays for all these sites and maintaining them? Because if they are travellers of no fixed abode, it's going to be hard to chase up those who don't pay site fees to maintain the place. So then each council then has the job of having to hire people to collect fees to maintain the site, right? Because otherwise, why they hell should everyone else pay council tax and rates for services when one group gets it for nothing?

And such sites much be inclusive. If travellers are free to join a council/HA housing list, then everyone else should be free to use a site like that provided by the government/council as long as they pay.

Otherwise, hey, what about other groups who just want to live among themselves? Then the council/government has to accord all such requests.

So they want to live a 'travelling lifestyle'. Great. We all want to live a certain way, and we have to pay for it.

I like to live in a fixed abode. So I have to pay rent.

I have encountered lots of issues with travellers, I worked in north Wales, just off the Holyhead road and any trouble we had was with travellers. Every single incident. Every one. Not generalising as I know that all travellers didn't cause those problems but every incident we had did.

"why does the race card get pulled at every opportunity ?

your post is fucking racist thats why

and you got exactly what you wanted didn't you? as now loads of other people are adding their tuppence worth and you feel vindicated???

Look, if someone did what you state in your OP, of course I would be annoyed and fucked off. naturally, its poor behaviour. None of us are angels, we all have bad , bigoted thoughts.

But I sure as fuck would not start a thread on it.

So did you actually witness the incident on the pub doorstep, OP?

golden

what OPs reports is gross behaviour. But I also think starting racist threads is pretty gross too

I cant see them to comment, but I can see OPs thread

Its just a bit tasteless

There has been dialogue.

But what resolution can be achieved from listing off occasions where you were offended by their anti-social behaviour? seriously, what does that achieve?

I think blueEmerald was really on the nail when she said they don't have a stake in society or in the community and that is one of the reasons why they are messier. (other reasons more practical, to do with no refuse collections). But their reaction to not having a stake in society and community is the same as a 'settled' person's.

we all get it, there is anti social behaviour, but while settled thugs might hang out in gangs of their peers travellers who behave in a threatening way might be with their uncles, fathers/sons. So, peers? families? different the same.

No I didn't witness it but my mother and her partner did, plus many others that were there, it's a small village so you can imagine news spreads like wild fire.

oh yes now I'm a bigot and racist because I won't tolerate the disgusting behaviour?

It sounded as though you witnessed the incident because you wrote above, "Maybe I should of [sic] offered a few plants to go with there [sic] cave man behavior? or nettles."

Yes, I can imagine that the news spreads like wildfire. I do wonder why the police have done nothing about all this, especially the shoplifting, etc. Are they particularly incompetent in your area?

They seem like they don't want the hassle to be honest.

itsBeer but by shouting down any negative experiences, is basically denying they happen. Allowing people to share their experiences is important I feel, and to be honest I wish there were more positive ones to balance the out. It is important to understand the behaviours and why they occur, maybe if there were more of these discussions, preferably involving the travelleing community who are open to communication with 'outsiders' some sort of resolution on at least some of these matters could be reached.

It may well be that they don't give a shit how their behaviour affects others, or it could be because they don't really know just how much aggravation it causes. Not allowing people to ever say anything negative, stops any chance of honest comunication from happening.

I'd personally love to have had the chance to sit down and ask some of the groups of travellers I've encountered, why they have left human excrement all over the place even when offered portaloos, why they have not cleaned up a site after they've left etc, but in all honesty, the ones I have encountered have been so aggressive and intimidating, there is no way I could safely do so.

Ah yes, don't make the poor travellers take responsibility for shoplifting. The police should take the full blame for not catching them! Of course!

The police won't go into a traveller site without significant backup. It's just a nightmare for them to be honest, dangerous, and if anything happens they will get accused of racism.