Would you let your 14 year old son go one his own to Blackpool away?

[Tuerto]

If I had to make a list of moments in my life where I felt or was directly threatened with violence, I think it would all be in my late teens/twenties.....talking late nineties , early naughties. I also, used to drink and be around drunk people more often. I also spent my weekends in my Mamgu's house in Lansbury Park .......which really skews the results

At the same time, I think I probably feel more anxious now about violent crime than I did when I was younger....even though I haven't had any genuinely dodgy experiences for the last decade or so. I'm sure that wall-to-wall media has had a big effect on my perception of things. I don't think I ever really read the news when I was in my twenties, nor did I have the kind of access I have now. The first news event I can remember is probably 9/11.

Good post is this. Like the way you're not so certain about things that are perceived by so many people, especially as we get older, that things are so much worse now than when we were younger. Some things most certainly are, like attempting to acquire a home or go through university without coming out the other side without 30 grand of debt.

Agree with you on how the media report on violent crime. It's almost like a TV show now, saturated to the point where even the victims Barber gets an interview. I certainly feel safer now than i did during my younger days, although i'm 50, so not really in these environments where violence can occur, although i've always felt safe in Cardiff, apart from a saturday night in the City centre with the meat heads off their heads on booze and powder. More importantly, i feel that society in general is more respecting of young people and less violent towards them.

[Barmy]

I was 15 when I was allowed to go on the train to my first away game. It was the 1991 FA Cup game against Swansea.

My parents were not football fans and clueless of the potential dangers. They thought it would be a good first away trip as it was a short train trip.


To say it was an eye opener to someone on their first away trip would be an understatement. Swansea was like the innards of hell that day. The double decker buses they put on to take the fans from the station to the ground had their windows smashed through. Missiles flying everywhere, fighting, looting.

To top it off, me and my friends got separated from the Cardiff fans on the walk back to the station and got lost in Swansea. We found a friendly looking couple of families with wives and kids to ask directions, who then promptly head butted me and laid into me on the floor.

On the train on the way home I remember people selling jewellery from the looted Ratners shop and someone taking a shit in the middle of the train carriage…

That made me laugh.
I remember a city fan walking around Pompey with a full set of golf clubs after a little shopping stop in Bristol on the way .