To mention assault on 207 bus (Shepherds Bush, West London) this afternoon

[Tikitaka20]

Just wanted to post here about some antisocial behaviour I saw on the 207 bus going to Shepherds Bush. It happened between 4:40pm and 5:10pm - can’t remember exactly when. I’ve reported it to the Met Police online and told the bus driver.

Just reposting it here in case anyone was also there.

A female passenger on the bus top deck asked a male passenger to get his feet off the seats. He swore and shouted at her, calling her a bitch, and spat at her as she walked down the stairs to the bottom deck. He was really aggressive and it was quite scary. I witnessed it, as did several other passengers on the top deck.

I guess they spread it out to local media, social and traditional. They do these pleas for witnesses about things don't they quite a lot.

Relying hopefully on someone or several people who knows the person to be horrible saying they know their ID etc.

I think they must also put up adverts/signs on the busses and transport hubs near where it happened. Showing his picture and asking for him or anyone with info to come forward.

Hopefully that will happen!

Spitting is classed as an assault I think but he would get a slap on the wrist at best if located.

We talk a lot about the social contract and we all have our part to play, but a lot of people genuinely don’t know how to behave in public. One half of me thinks its not too late to stop civilisation becoming defunct, but the other half of me says its too late. There is something very wrong in the UK at the moment, possibly forever now. Dickheads used to be in the minority but it is moving to them being the majority.

I agree that spitting would be classed as an assault and that, if caught, he’ll get a talking to and nothing more. I hope at least he’ll be on the police’s radar though - that is the most important thing for me.

I think the passenger who spat on the woman did know how to behave in public, because after he swore and shouted at her, other passengers called him out and he paused and then spat at her. I think he’s just filled with rage and he takes it out on people who call him out on his behaviour.

I’m sure there are many reasons why our social contract feels broken, but for me, two big possible reasons are the behaviour of people in power (eg Trump and - in previous years- Boris Johnson) and the effect of the Covid lockdowns and the cost of living. Most of us spent much more time at home than usual during lockdown, and are also spending more time at home dhe to the high cost of living. At home we can generally behave how we like without disturbing others, but people are now bringing that behaviour into public spaces and it is often really inconsiderate.

That's not how statistics work.

Unfortunately, we all need to accept that society has permanently changed and we need to keep ourselves safe by lowering and adjusting our expectations of others. We're just causing ourselves grief and upset by expecting others to behave how we want them to.

I’m sorry but I don’t agree with that and can’t accept that. We shouldn’t put up with that. There are basic rules we all need to live by.

Then we'll have to learn to accept the consequences. It's only going to get worse. There's a big strata of feral kids driving teachers out of their jobs and people seem to be becoming more aggressive now.

I agree and believe we need more safety officers on public transport. It’s like the Wild West and for how much we pay for it in this country I feel it needs to be safer and cleaner too for that matter.

Well, our government and all of us - as citizens, colleagues, parents, family members, friends and in the different roles and social groups we have - need to get involved to stop it from getting worse and actively improving it.

OP sadly there are a lot of people who have severe mental health issues and aren't getting support or should be in jail but the type of 'low level' crimes they do won't be prosecuted or result in jail time. The problem has gone on for enough time for kids with crappy parents to become unruly themselves.

Sadly you do have to adjust. From my experience if you ask someone to turn there music down or whatever it is, even if you were extremely polite - there is a chance you will experience a wave of high level aggression back. The best thing is to adjust your expectations and not even go there.

Unless that is you are 6ft 5 and built like a tank / a ninja / an off duty police man. Otherwise save your battles for something big.

As an example I nicely asked a teenager not to feed my dog a chicken bone as it might kill them and in return he threatened to 'shank me.' Then said I was being racist when I said to my partner he might have a knife despite being the one to threaten the stabbing....

Honestly it's a Wild West world out there. I'm not afraid of confrontation but I've had to realise it's not worth the agro most of the time.

I try to only intervene if someone is being abusive to someone else these days.