to think chavy, tacky hen parties should SOD off [Edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

[CannoninD]

I’m fed up.
I’ve lived in my beautiful, respectful and historic city my entire life .... but over the last year it’s been invaded by GOD AWFUL hen parties!

20+ strong groups of horrifically common (referring to behaviour not social class) women who inflict their horrific behaviour on everybody within reach.

They’re EVERYWHERE and I know it’s not just me as there are sunbstantial concerns being raised by residents all over the city.

I counted 23 large groups this weekend (I only walked into the (small ish) city centre on Saturday morning and witnessed the following behaviour-

• Loud swearing (F and C word) right in front of/across young families and children just trying to enjoy a day out.
• Shop doors slammed in elderly shoppers faces (too busy pratting around to pay any attention).
• Stock being damaged by pratting about (and then hidden) to avoid paying.
• Horrifically vulgar and inappropriate content being loudly discussed in family areas (a garden/park area) to the point that families got up and left.
• Completely inappropriate Lingerie being worn in the street (before 2pm).
• Vomiting in the street! Whilst being jeered by the rest of the group.

Personally I would rather bleach out my own eyes than go on a hen do like this- but honestly at what point do we just call the police on these ridiculous idiots inflicting such unreasonable behaviour on families and regular people? What’s worse is, I bet back home they’re perfectly normal women. They just all get together and come away from home and behave like total arseholes!

Being in a large group and celebrating an event- does not give you a hall pass to behave like scum. 😡

Well done @Pinkarsedfly.
Thank you.

I totally agree OP. You don't sound horrible at all. We have those here. I spotted one of the hens wearing a t shirt that had (name and geographical location changed) Mary Fucks Scousers in big letters on the back of it. This was walking around town in the early afternoon. Strangely the daytime behaviour of stag parties seems to be a lot more subdued. And we also have some hen parties that are very well behaved and respectful.

minimum standards of behaviour should be set nationally and anyone who steps out of line should receive a fine at the minimum and prosecution for the very worst behaviour

There already are plenty of laws to cover this needaknittedhat. It's a problem caused by the frantic drive to austerity.

The limited budgets for policing, enthusiastically pushed by Theresa May as Home Secretary, and the need for local authorities to raise money wherever they can through parking charges or granting change of use licences for local businesses that have destroyed the High Street has caused this.

Oh sod off. Yabu.

Admittedly, Stags and Hens need to exercise appropriate control over their behaviour - but you’re making it sound like people aren’t allowed to have fun.

Lighten up a little.

These hen parties are wrecking York's city center for everyone else, including the people who actually live there.
If the hens want to have 'fun' they can do it in their own communities.

there was also the start of the problem when "Tuscany" Blair thought it would be a good idea to extend opening hours. I understand his theory was that if pubs didn't shut at 11 or 12pm, people woudn't get bladdered ordering 2 pints on last orders.. and if we had a European cafe culture people wouldn't take advantage of drinking from 11am to ... whenever the pubs opened. I'm not sure what was going on his mind.

But I agree with PPs who say don't just moan on MN. Write to your local parish council, district council, county or unitary and to your MP. But not before you've done a bit of research (numbers of bars/pubs open - dated photos or videos of behaviour - hotels etc encouraging hen/stags). It's not enough to be Disgusted of York/Bath/Cardiff/Edinburgh.

How did Dublin do away with this, as PPs have mentioned above?

Cryingwithlaughter it really is a horrible atmosphere.

We want everyone to be able to have fun - including families, young teenagers, partygoers - everyone.

It really is threatening and nasty. I’m no wimp, I enjoy a drink and in my time I’ve been a bit daft when in my cups.

But I’ve never shouted at anyone in the street, been involved in a fight, mistaken the gutter for my bathroom, picked a fight with a homeless person, nicked the microphone off a busker, pushed passers-by out of my way, gone round shops when pissed or sexually assaulted anyone ‘for a laugh’.

That’s not fun, it’s horrible.

I think inflatables have been banned, a couple of years back...can’t say it’s improved behaviour though.

YANBU. I used to (pre children) go out clubbing frequently, but I would actively avoid anywhere the hen parties frequented. Awful, embarassing and cringeworthy behaviour. I lived in Edinburgh and it is crawling with them.

I regularly fly with work and often see groups of stag and hen parties in the airport. 9 out of 10 times it's the women behaving awfully, they're the ones in matching t-shirts, L-plates, heading to the bar at 7am. The stag parties are often dressed up too and can be loud but they are polite and helpful and just want to get breakfast. Recently I was in a the airport coffee shop with a lot of Marios and 1 Princess Peach, my coffee got knocked over completely by accident and the Mario was very apologetic, grabbed loads of paper towels to clean it and bought me another coffee. A woman on a hen once knocked my briefcase out of my hand and just laughed and caught up with her friends. It's bad enough being in an airport with them, I dread to think what they're like once they're on the plane and at their destination if they've been drinking since 7am. I'm very grateful that my main work destination is not a popular party town so I don't have to find out.
OP I don't think you're being a snob, it's such awful behaviour and so unnecessary.

No, nothing banned, you can still go around town riding an inflatable penis at 11 am if you wish.

I really don’t know if there is much the council would be prepared to do about antisocial behaviour, in their eyes, the city is for the tourists and the money that they bring, not for the residents.

captain is obviously busy planning her next hen night

It's the 'they're just having fun, lighten up' attitude that enables people to continue behaving like total cunts. The only reason I can see for defending this kind of behaviour is if you're the one out there on a Saturday afternoon pissing in the street and bellowing sweat words at kids

*swear

It's fucking awful, OP, I agree.

*Oh sod off. Yabu.

Admittedly, Stags and Hens need to exercise appropriate control over their behaviour - but you’re making it sound like people aren’t allowed to have fun.

Lighten up a little.*

Well that's the whole point.
Had the Hens and Stags been able to exercise appropriate control the all of this would be happening.

Cryingwithlaughter91

Is the behaviour described throughout this thread really what you consider just fun?
If so, you set the bar pretty low.

I think you've made a very valid point. We should be disgusted by certain behaviours, whether by stag or hen parties. So I think you are very much not being unreasonable. Councils spend fortunes for city/town centres to be welcoming to all well behaved people. Ryanair flights to Dublin on a Friday afternoon are a real eye opener.

Try living in Blackpool! It's a total no go area on a weekend or bank holidays, I never venture into town. It's a shame because there's loads for the kids but after one incident with a group of about 20, semi naked, men smashing hell out of each other at 11am on a Saturday morning I gave up. Lots of other 'nice ' places to visit locally so I give blackpool a miss. The council aren't interested in the residents because they make so much money from the hen and stag parties...and don't even get me started on the Young Farmers!!!

I live in York and havent noticed this tbh.

We had a family day out to York stained by such behaviour last month. Groups of drunken screeching women taking over the pavements, falling into traffic, loud and inappropriate language.

It's just embarrassing to witness. There didn't seem to be any police around either, not that it's a crime to be acting like that, but maybe to caution. There's been several deaths this year already from people falling in the river, maybe they were too drunk to look after themselves?

It's nothing to do with austerity, lack of policing or anything else other than these men and women are selfish, ill mannered and have no sense of dignity. Full stop.

You could bet your bottom dollar though, that if Auntie Mary or Cousin Gary gets the tinniest bit tiddly at their wedding, the bride or groom would be posting a sour faced 'Auntie/Cousin ruined my wedding by flashing her knickers/splitting his trousers whilst trying to prove she/he could still do the splits at 60 - AIBU'. That'd probably be the bride or groom who's pee'd in the gutter, been sick in the pub and F'd and C'd at everyone in sight the week before and thought it was highly amusing. It's not, it's revolting.

Where I used to live the police used to have a bucket and mop in the back of the van on Friday/Saturday nights. If you peed in a doorway or were sick in the street they stood over you whilst you cleared it up. Much to the amusement of other people leaving pubs etc., Not a classy look but then these sort of people wouldn't know class if it kicked them up the backside.

YANBU at all OP.

The thing that even if York manage to solve their problem it's only going to move it somewhere else.

Why is such behaviour seen and tolerated as fun?

Genius, I was just thinking that.

It's sad that Blackpool has been effectively allowed to be destroyed. It's gone from a traditional, seaside resort to an absolute dive littered with vomit.

It's sad, and should never have been allowed to get this far.

I thought you were talking about York. Our beautiful city is an embarrassment at weekends.