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

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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!

I met a group of traveller lads last week in town. They told us they were travellers straight away and said we will leave you alone if you wish.

One of them was the most beautiful male I'd ever seen. We had a right laugh and they were lovely lads.

They weren't from my city so don't think we will see them again. Hope we do though!

I've seen travellers pitched up on fields near me. Usually when circus is coming or just after. I'm not close enough to notice mess though.

Rather see houses around than the fucking mopeds that are about here!

Horses**

^ an example of the fact that throughout all communities, there are both good and bad people. Just because people have bad experiences with a small minority doesn't mean they're all alike.
Same thing applies to teen mums, single parents teenagers (this list goes on)

Nobody has the right to trespass because of membership of an ethnic group. The law needs to be much sharper and more effective when the landowner complains.

Nobody has the right to live among those of their own ethnic origin.

Nobody has the right to preference in planning applications because of membership of an ethnic group. Every application for retrospective planning permission should be backed by a bond issued by an insurance company to restore the land to its prior condition within fourteen days of the application refuses.

Nobody has the right to drive uninsured and without MOT because of membership of an ethnic group. It does not constitute unlawful discrimination if an insurance company refuses to insure a driver who cannot read and understand the proposal form; it is common sense.

In short: it is time to stop treating travellers as special and give them the same rights and subject them to the same obligations as anybody else.

There is a very large settled traveller community in my area. When we had an issue with travelling travellers a few years ago, it was the settled travellers that moved them on without allowing them to cause too much damage to the area and the problem hasn't existed here since then.

In my experience, much of the racism directed towards travellers has been from other travellers. I don't know the backgrounds of the different groups or even which groups the travellers I know fit in to, but I have seen that they very much don't want to be associated with each other.

Travellers I'm betting is what your talking about not Gypsies there is a Difference!

But because of that stupid program on the television everyone now place everyone under the term Traveller,generally on that program they are travellers and not Gypsies!

are the Romany gypsies and the Irish travellers related in any way or are they 2 distinct cultural groups? I think I can understand the Romany heritage as a protected group more as they have clearly been roaming around Europe (originally from Asia?) for centuries, so it does seem a bit harsh to force them to stop now. The Irish travellers seem to be à.different case to me.

So everyone else has a valid mot excluding travellers then?

Has anyone answered the post question? How do you tax and insure or own a car without being able to give a fixed address? They ask things like 'Where is the car kept overnight' etc. Plus financial stuff, bank accounts etc and driving licences. Genuine question.

No bigfam of course not. I am thinking of an incident some years ago when a contingent of travellers were stopped after a pile-up; thirty cars, not one taxed, insured, or MOTed. The usual suspects explaining that paperwork is not part of the traveller culture.

There are many people in remote villages in Wales who drive cars around, no tax , no licence, no insurance and no M O T.

I was chatting to an elderly Gypsy woman who was selling lucky charms in my local town. I asked where they were saying and she mentioned a nearby town and said she didn't like it there because the local boys were throwing stones at them and swearing at them.
Then she excused them by saying 'well, they're just little children and don't know any better yet'.

Sparklingbrook Tax and insurance were not invented without a good reason. Nobody has the right to run a car without jumping through the paper hoops.

Suppose your car or your fence was damaged by an uninsured vehicle. Your NCB and excess at risk. Would you resent it any the less because the driver was illiterate and was a member of a community which did not do paperwork?

My XMIL hated Gypsies because they didn't pay tax.
But she always, always paid tradesmen and builders cash and would gleefully tell us it was cheaper because there was no VAT on the job, or because it was cash the tradesman wouldn't have to declare it.

Hypocritical woman.

I am a bit ignorant about this. I don't understand it. I certainly don't understand the comparison with black people, gay people, etc.

If people behave in a really deliberately offensive manner then they don't deserve any respect.

You can be offensive without intending it, but leaving shit all over the ground for other people to clear up is very clearly going to upset everyone.

We have a large local site which seems to tick over quietly. I've had stuff stolen, and the police knew it was them but would, or could, do nothing. I've been chased by dogs walking past another smaller site. But we just keep away now.

In short I think it is wise to allocate a site and provide facilities. It seems to be, give them what they want and they will leave you alone, which doesn't seem quite right, but it works, roughly speaking.

I am sure there are pleasant and reasonable people among the community and there must be reasons why they behave badly at times but I don't know enough about them to comment.

Asking on one hand to be seen as a homogenous culture, and at the same time not to be labelled with cultural behaviours that appear to prevail, is a difficult one for me to get my head round in this instance.

I sigh inwardly at the comparisons of MNers discussing their own lived experiences with the Nazis. It trivialises the atrocities of the Holocaust and doesn't help the debate. I agree with Andrewofgg that the authorities need to take a tougher line with criminals who behave in the ways outlined rather than just moving them on to cause chaos in another area. I've come into contact with three groups of Gypsy Travellers, firstly through a family who lived near me who were polite, neighbourly, hardworking (and tax paying) and heavily involved with church charity work. The second are the group of travellers who took down the fences on our village fields and community centre car park and absolutely trashed the place and shouted vile and unprovoked abuse at people from children to the elderly using the community centre. The third are Gyspy Travellers who I came across in my previous role as a health worker, my experiences there have been mixed but I would say that I have come across worrying levels of what would be considered child abuse in other communities and social and educational services who seem to turn a blind eye to this either because of a fear of being labelled as racists or because they've filled these children in the too hard to deal with/not worth bothering with box. Laws should be applied consistently, it fails everyone when they are not.

To be honest most of the travellers I know are not illiterate, actually I can't name one that is. I think that's another stereotypical thing, that they can't read and write.

I have had bad experiences with travellers, as has my DH, friends and family. It doesn't stop me from thinking that we shouldn't tar the whole community with the same brush, though. I don't think that gets us anywhere, does it?

Yes, lots and lots of people have had negative experiences with travellers but we haven't met them all so we can't say that they are all as badly behaved as the ones we have met.

No other ethnic group on earth would be allowed to be shown the hatred shown in this thread.
I hope none of you ever feel unwanted in your own country as we do, I am a Romany Gypsy, ans my family have always faced racism based on stereotype and the negative example of a few.
The ethnic cleansing in this country is a disgrace. Why do you people think there are not enough pitches?? It forces us into housing or living life on the edge of society because that is were you non Gypsies want to keep us.

Forago no they are completely separate.

Very different cultures.As Gypsies we believe our roots are way back from India.Some Gypsies are known for having they're own Royal family.
They have they're own laws and beliefs.

Here's a bit that dismisses what has been said about my ancestors for far to long now

Myth: Gypsies are dirty.

Truth: Gypsy culture is built upon strict codes of cleanliness learnt over centuries of life on the road. Concepts such as mokadi and mahrime place strict guidelines, for example, on what objects can be washed in what bowls. Gypsies view gorgias (non-Gypsies) as unclean because of the way they live.

My ancestors never damaged land,stole from people,hurt animals,would harm they're children.My family has zero tolerance for violence towards women.We hate discrimination and racism in any form.

We've all been raised to help others and give to charity.The majority of us have gone onto rescue animals.All of my family are very lucky in that were all quite artistic,but we've all gone on to do well in education as well.

My Dad's side of the family have a very strong Gypsy heritage,unfortunately many of our descendants were settled in Germany whilst Hitler was there so many of our descendants were killed.My Mother also had Gypsy heritage on her side of the family as well.

I am sure there is an enormous amount of abuse directed at travellers and I don't approve of that either.

ohtheholidays that was an interesting post, thank you. Do you know what the typical Irish Traveller culture is?

its not a few though is it that's the problem. everyone on this thread has had incidents and mess in their hometown/village from some sort of travellers. I can see that Romany travellers have a strong case and better codes of conduct. but unfortunately the distinction is not clear (that programme didn't help). Perhaps Romany communities could do some work to distance themselves from other groups who turn up, go on crime sprees and make a hideous (and unecessary) mess. how would a Romany camp feel if I pitched up next to then and started breaking into all the caravans and shitting where their children play?

Threads like this always raise more questions than they answer.

Wow. With a few exceptions this thread reads like the Daily Mail comments section.