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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to find it disgusting that gypsies have taken over a school playground

808 replies

Adizzylass2014 · 04/04/2015 22:17

whilst attending my best friends wedding today in a little village I was horrified to see that gypsies had taken over the school playground. There was rubbish all over the floor, children and dogs running all over the place and scantily clad women puffing away.
why a school playground, these people have no morals. The poor caretaker is going to have his work cut out for him as there was at least 15 caravans! Angry

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 05/04/2015 00:23

I've experienced racism-saying that enough is enough is not racism.

Enough of what though?

Enough violent kids - not racism

Enough rude kids - not racism

Enough disruptive kids - not racism

Enough - travellers (due to your personal experience of a few) = racism.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:25

I feel very angry and embarrassed when a few Travellers fuel the stereotype of us being "disgusting".

Fyi. Being a Gypsy/Traveller is not a lifestyle choice.
Gypsy/Traveller are an ethnic minority, and it is fair to say its racist to make assumptions about a whole race based on only what you see once in a while. There are thousands of Gypsies and Travellers who are clean, tidy people that you don't read
about in the daily shit stirrer mail.
As a few wise posters have pointed out there are not enough pitches for us, even when we do buy our own land, and live in peace, a witch hunt often ensues. This is a fact I've experienced and that is "disgusting".
I've taught in schools and Gypsy/Traveller children of all ages and nationalities are on the fringes, other "darling" children calling them names they didn't learn from peppa pig.
As I said its embarrassing but don't tar everyone with the same brush.
And it's Gypsies with a capital "G".

DrEllieSattler · 05/04/2015 00:25

Redskirt

Travellers are, typically for me, intimidating. They are known for being aggressive and well known for violence against each other and settled people. The men especially drink to excess and pick fights. My partner runs a comedy club and had a massive problem with a party of travellers who came in over Christmas and were loud and totally ignoring the show but aggressive to the rest of the audience when someone dared ask them to hush.

They were bribed out with a cleared tab and once they left the entire club relaxed.

Do they contribute to society?
Of course some do. Some settled folk do too.

Just with any group. Some people are lazy feckless arses who do nothing but a lot of people work hard... Typically travelling folk have a reputation for dodgy "cash in hand" work and not paying tax but I don't know that to be true or not.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:31

Dr. So your comedy club "experience" makes you am expert?.. As far as "dodgy" You are making assumptions, unless you have some more evidence.

WorraLiberty · 05/04/2015 00:34

The thing is, my 20 years experience of known travellers has been far from positive.

But I may have had 100s of positive experiences with travellers I've randomly met and not had a clue that they were travellers.

For example, a complete stranger saw me struggling a few weeks ago...trying to walk home with more shopping bags than I could really carry. She was walking behind me and asked if I needed a hand.

It was really touching and I thanked her and said it was ok because I only lived around the corner - still it was unusually kind of a stranger and made me smile.

Was she a traveller? I don't know, I didn't ask her because why would I?

That is why it's pretty stupid to write off a whole race of people on the actions of some.

Even though the 'some' should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

whattodooo · 05/04/2015 00:35

I'm another with only bad experiences of travellers. We had a pre school fundraising night and there was a traveller women's night out at the same venue, possibly a hen do as they were all in fancy dress.

By the end of the night the women's toilets had smashed glass and empty vodka bottles in the sink, fag ash in the sinks and on the floor and a bottle of nail varnish spilled across the back of one of the toilets. I'm no clean freak, but it was an insane amount of mess!

It's the general lack of respect for other people and their surroundings. If it weren't for these things then I doubt people would have a problem with them and they might find that land owners/venue owners would be more likely to allow them in.

Sparklingbrook · 05/04/2015 00:39

Every time the travellers arrive I wish they could be the ones that don't break in,leave a mess, and don't use the towpath as a loo, and when they leave you wouldn't even know they had even been there. That would be great-a positive experience.

But unfortunately they never are.

WestEast · 05/04/2015 00:43

People seems to not understand (apart from Worra) that you might not notice all the nice things, the picking up of dog shit, binning of rubbish, The volunteering on the Facebook organised dog poo pick up that travellers do nice things as well. Should we all wear a fucking gold star so you know us? So you know our deeds? Should we say 'hello, May name is WestEast, I'm an Irish Traveller one dads side?'

ihavenonameonhere · 05/04/2015 00:43

Generally they contribute little but take a lot. Do many of them pay taxes? How do they get away with not sending their kids to school but other ppl get fined £60 for taking kids on a weeks holiday. We need to stop being worried about being racist and lock people up for breaking into private land or not sending their kids to school

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:45

Worra --- perfectly said.
And in fact sometimes, people get it wrong, a friend of mine was most amused a few weeks ago to be asked if she was a Gypsy, very dark hair and dark skin. No, she said, I'm not. Sometimes people see something, and they jump to conclusions based on a stereotype, to me that is ignorant small mindedness.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:48

West, my sentiments exactly.
I have no name, your post is so ignorant, "we need to stop being worried about being racist". Really?

WorraLiberty · 05/04/2015 00:50

I don't know what the answer is to be perfectly honest with you.

Maybe more legal sites - but then again there is a housing shortage all round and lack of space to house people.

Maybe charge them for the massive clean up and repair costs - how though, if they keep travelling on before paying? It would cost more to trace them and enforce payment/fines than it would to clean up the mess.

A change in law to enable local authorities to move them on quicker? - Where to though if there are so few legal sites?

It just goes round in circles.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:51

I have ..... People are "locked up" for crimes, guess what? The prisons are mostly catering of non Travellers.

DrEllieSattler · 05/04/2015 00:53

Notall

No, of course I'm not an expert. I'm deliberately speaking in very general terms and relating personal experience. (I was working that night as it was booked up and understaffed)

But. Just as worra has said. My only knowing encounters with travellers have not been good.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 00:53

Of * for*

redskirt · 05/04/2015 00:53

Could anyone become a gypsy?

Fifis25StottieCakes · 05/04/2015 00:53

Big gypsy site in my town, been there at least 30 years. Its quite big tucked away next to an industrial site. Never been any problems as far as i know and the site looks clean and well maintained.

I think more legal sites are the answer. Where are they supposed to go if no one will have them in their town.

DrEllieSattler · 05/04/2015 00:57

Notall

It's very hard to affectively prosecute someone of no fixed abode, who's associates are also of no fixed abode and who disappears when released from custody and doesn't attend court.

WestEast · 05/04/2015 00:58

DrEllie

Only your experiences with people you know to be travellers are negative.

The ones of us who you don't know to be travellers might not be.

LaLyra · 05/04/2015 00:59

I think part of the problem with travellers is similar to people on benefits and the likes - the minority who hit the headlines tarnish the reputation of everyone.

We have an official traveller site near us. The travellers who use it are good decent people. They leave it tidy and the only noise you get from them is if there is a big gathering for a wedding or christening and tbh my next-door neighbours were bloody noisy after their daughter's christening so it's no different.

However there are a number of travellers who won't use the official site. They say there is too many rules. So they take over whichever piece of land they can when they arrive. One year it was the shopping centre car park, one year it was the town park and last year it was the school playing fields. They left mess everywhere, school sports day had to be cancelled and the kids weren't allowed out at breaktime because of the people and animals wandering around the playing field. It left a very bad taste in people's mouths and sadly it's made people less tolerant of any travellers because they are just waiting for the next place to be trashed.

SmillasSenseOfSnow · 05/04/2015 01:00

I'm honestly not surprised that people are so bloody ignorant when my own mother told me her late father was Egyptian when I was about 13 - because he had been adopted from Gypsies.

Romany Gypsies actually hail from an area around the Punjab (though I think they all possibly left before it became known as the Punjab).

Sparklingbrook · 05/04/2015 01:02

How do you tax and insure your car with no fixed abode? Or do anything that requires a postal address?

DrEllieSattler · 05/04/2015 01:02

I completely agree westeast.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 01:04

Of * for*

I hear what you say worrA But the idea of moving on quicker, to where. Gypsies, later Traveller are ancestrally nomadic, and yet it's practically illegal. Drive with three or move trailers and the police turn up, where are going, where have you been? Why is that ok. It me it's wrong.
Yes, there's a housing shortage, but a lot of councils do not even assess the need for pitches where Travellers are stay legally. There are not enough. But, they will list on their website what numbers to call to report any Travellers camped. This doesn't feel good as a Human being, let alone a Traveller.

NotallTravellersarebad · 05/04/2015 01:06

Dr . The law is clever than you think regarding just saying you have "no fixed abode". How do you think car insure is obtained.