SuperGran or SillyGran...??

[BurnAfterReading]

I heard on the radio this morning about an elderly lady who attacked some would be thugs/burglars/shoplifters with her handbag and they ran away.(I haven't read the full story yet - apologies for this)

The woman was referred to as "Super Gran" by the person on radio but I wonder how "super" this behaviour actually is....??

My dad did something similar with some eejits on a bus who were throwing things at passengers and intimidating everyone - my dad, being all bravado, challenged them in a not so polite way, the eejits shit themselves and sat quietly for the rest of the journey - this worked out well for my dad, but I told dad that he was silly to do this as it could have cost him dearly. especially when the eejits could have followed him off the bus and jumped him...

Personally, I think this lady is very lucky, as her intervention could have gone the wrong way.

What do you think? Intervene or look the other way? I'm in two minds, I suppose it depends on the situation....

[antshouse]

She told the Northampton chronicle that she thought that 3 of the men were attacking another man an ran over to stop it. It was once she had intervened that she realised it was a robbery. She's a brave lady.

[mrshess]

Sometimes you have to take a stand for what you know is right or what kind of world would we live in.
I cant believe the speed she ran she could outrun me, hats off to her i hope she gets a new handbag as a reward!!

[ilovesprouts]

i say good on her ,and shame to all them who was walking past ,she deserves a medal

[rickymummy]

My Mum walked past the shop a few minutes later - when she told me about it this morning, I thought for one awful moment it was her! She's forever leaping in. I once saw her smack a pretty thuggish teenage boy with her umbrella because he was pushing a girl against a fence.

I would probably have run a mile, but it is a good job there are a few people around who would have the nerve to jump in.

[pagwatch]

I think speculating about what one would or wouldn't , should or shouldn't do is something of a waste of time.
Most people I know who have been attacked or walked in on a burglar etc have had no notion beforehand that they would behave as they did.
The funniest example were my friends who were walking home when two guys attempted to mug them.
My six foot, stacked, rugby playing, general good guy friend stood there open mouthed. His girlfriend, all 5 ft 1" eight stone of her, legged it after mugger in a total fury.

You don't know how you will react.

I am a total Jessie about blood and stuff yet have run to help when anyone is hurt. Twice I have got them into ambulance and then fainted.

[saffy85]

Good for supergran she is clearly not to be messed with!

...But had my granny done similar or my mum (who is very confrontational) I would have told them off! As you say it doesn't always have a happy ending- some people have stepped in in situations like this and got their heads kicked in.

[BurnAfterReading]

The most dangerous item most of them have is arguably a truncheon, maybe pepper spray. Hardly a match against a team of sledgehammer wielding thugs.

As opposed to a handbag..??

I personally would not put my life at risk in this case at all....I would jump down the throat of someone who was being a threat to my family/friend etc, and I would like to think that I would intervene if witnessing someone trying to steal a car or break into a home...but, this jewellery store was already closing the shutters and assuming the alarm was on police were probably alreay on route - the store manager and staff have probably been trained to do nothing in event of robbery as life is more valuable.

This wee 'have a go hero' lady practically sprinted from the other side of town to help a store that already had put its security plan into place...

[Niceguy2]

I don't really give a stuff about some jewellery chain that (probably) makes huge profits, and certainly wouldn't put myself at risk for it.
Your response troubles me too.

It might be a jewellery chain this time. What next? A bank? Your friends home? Your car? My car? Where do you draw the line?

If everyone had your attitude there'd be no society at all. It would be just anarchy.

The police can only police in this country by consent. They need our support and often assistance. The more people (rightly or wrongly) step away and refuse to help, the worse the country will get.

And let's face it most of our police (thankfully) are not armed. The most dangerous item most of them have is arguably a truncheon, maybe pepper spray. Hardly a match against a team of sledgehammer wielding thugs. So if we won't help.....why should we expect them to? They're hardly paid a lot.

[CostaLotCoffee]

Crazy, I think you are right but it is so hard to do the right thing sometimes.

A few months ago I was in town with my friend, two newborns and my toddler. We walked past a woman who was violently shaking a buggy to try to make her baby stop crying, I think the baby was probably about 9 months old. I genuinely feared for the safety of the baby.

I would like to think I would have challenged her and told her that you can't do that with a baby, but she had two very rough looking skin heads with her, stood talking, and one of them saw us looking at what she was doing and shouted 'whats your f**king problem?'. We walked on and said nothing .
I just couldn't risk putting my babies in danger by possibly provoking these apparently aggressive men.

I still feel bad for that little baby and hop she is still ok.

I looked for a police officer or anyone in authority to tell but couldn't find anyone.

[BurnAfterReading]

"The police? They're just humans at the end of the day too and why should they put themselves in harms way when we can't be bothered to?"

erm because it is their job to uphold the law, it's not national service :) people actually apply to be in the police force knowing full well what it entails.

[crazyspaniel]

I think society goes a bad way when people step aside and say 'nothing to do with me... walk on...'

How are we defining "society" though? I understand it as the network of bonds between human beings. I don't really give a stuff about some jewellery chain that (probably) makes huge profits, and certainly wouldn't put myself at risk for it. This is what troubles me about the responses to this story - is heroism really defined by our willingness to potentially martyr ourselves so that an insurance company doesn't have to pay out?

As I said above, the store manager and staff weren't going to put themselves at risk. I disagree (Niceguy) that the police are no different - they are (in circumstances such as this) armed with something better than a handbag, and also willingly take a salary in exchange for putting themselves in such situations.

[Niceguy2]

i notice the earlier link has been blocked on Youtube. Here is another:

here

Personally I think its great that the gran got involved like that but a shame so many others either pretended not to notice or just stood and watched.

Sometimes you have to do the right thing despite the risk to yourself.

Otherwise, where does it stop? If everyone thought the same, who'd do it? The police? They're just humans at the end of the day too and why should they put themselves in harms way when we can't be bothered to?

[BlardyKnackered]

I think she is fantastic. Good on her. It is about people seeing something and saying 'enough is enough'.

She deserves all the accolades that come her way.

in my not so humble opinion I think society goes a bad way when people step aside and say 'nothing to do with me... walk on...'

[BurnAfterReading]

"There is a difference between getting involved to protect a fellow human-being, and helping to protect the stock of a jewellery store"

Very good point - I agree.

[earwicga]

I think what your dad is very different from what this woman did.

Good on your dad for stopping abusive behaviour towards the other passengers. I wish more people would do this.

The woman was really stupid. Protecting a shop from armed robbers when the shutters were going down anyway. Really stupid.

[crazyspaniel]

There is a difference between getting involved to protect a fellow human-being, and helping to protect the stock of a jewellery store. I wouldn't have been inclined to stop a sledgehammer-wielding gang from taking what would have been insured goods from a Rolex shop either (though, having been mugged and fought back successfully, but probably stupidly, I do accept that people act on instinct sometimes). And I don't suppose the store manager was trying desperately to stop the theft - he and his staff would have been trained just to lower the armoured blinds and press the alarm button. People did, however, come to the lady's assistance once she got involved, which is fair enough since it had then turned into a rather different situation to theft. But she put herself and those who helped her in a potentially very dangerous position and they are lucky the outcome wasn't worse.

[Chil1234]

I think she's terrific & put everyone else to shame. Wonder if she's ex-army or police or something?

[ValiumSandwichTime]

@veggie, was reading on mn the other day about 'DecentDragon' who was given a caution for biting a burglar who broke into her home. It was on the thread about the mother who got a caution for leaving her 3 year old with her 14 year old for half an hour.

[BuzzLiteBeer]

I think that too many people stay still when they should do something.

My DH was in traffic one night when he saw a man trying to carjack a women, dragging her out of her car by her hair. At least 20 people about, nobody moved. He got out and leapt on the man. He did get slightly injured and it could have been worse, but you don't just stand by and watch someone smaller and more vulnerable than you get attacked.

[PaisleyLeaf]

The smash and grab thing works because of the surprise element. She totally out-surprised them!

I expect they're the laughing stock of their little underworld now.

[BurnAfterReading]

Point well made Blu - and well done you for getting the better of the muggers.

Although it does not seem it, I am actually a fight back kind of person aswell - it's just that I don't want my mum, dad, gran, grandpa to do this for fear of losing them.

Hey ho! Another victory against the scumbags of today anyway.

Thanks all for your input - and be sure always have a handbag at the ready :)

[Blu]

The thing is, many robbers and muggers are amateurs - when do they get the practice? I tend to be instinctively a 'turn and fight' typ of person and have twice fought off muggers - verbally, not physically - and also chased lads who nicked a bag into an estate, yelling at them, bluffing to one lot that I had seen which flat their friends ran into, so they needed to return the bag or they would be convicted. In all 3 cases, they caved in and ran off mumbling apologies.

There are horrible incidents of this going wrong, but if the normal response is for adults to watch and do nothing, we will have a lawless mess.

[MmeLindt]

I suspect the fact that it was a little old lady saved her bacon. They may well have reacted differently if it had been an older guy.

It is not really comparable with yobs on a bus though, who are up for causing trouble.

[BurnAfterReading]

Laughing my arse off here at the guy who fell off his bike hahahahahaha!!! He must have shit his pants.

That wee woman does deserve a medal, but honestly I think she was lucky that the robbers seemed to be amateurs and shit themselves, rather than smacking her one and sending her flying....but maybe I've been reading too much Martina Cole...

What do you think about the person behind the camera a)good idea for catching evidence on film or b)stop filming and help??

I still don't know if I'd like my gran to do the same, or even my mum or dad.

I suppose no one really knows what they would do unless the situation presents itself

[MmeLindt]

Good on her.

Did you notice that lots of people came running when she laid into them?