new thread
I want to keep this as brief as possible--
I was in a gym changing room, and spending about 10 minutes brushing my hair in front of a mirror.
Then after i had put on my clothes and getting ready to finally leave, these guys behind me said "Where's the skirt?"
I thought "ha ha", very funny, they are just joking around.
But then when i tried to leave, they grabbed me by my shirt, and started to throw me into toilet doors.. (almost JUST like a bully would do in high-school - and i'm 21 years old.. i.e. not in high school anymore).
While doing this, they were saying stuff like "You shouldn't be in the mens changing room... if you went in the girls changing room you wouldn't have us to face"...
There were about 5 of them (who were surprisingly Irish - i suspected these to be nicer, more tolerant people than English).. and I was frankly too scared to try and retaliate, as they were quite big guys.
Eventually they got bored, and walked away.
Luckily I am not completely skinny, so could survive being pushed into a door a few times.
In hindsight, it seems MUCH worse than i thought it was at the time. If a long-hair can't get washed in the gym changing rooms, then it is truly a sad state of affairs (I live in the UK btw, south-east London, suburbs).
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On another note, some chavs or townies or wiggers (whatever you want to call them) cut off a middle-aged man's pony tail, and just ran off the bus like whimps unable to face up to what they'd just done.
The guy's hair was well half way down his back.
What do people from other countries think about these sort of events? The crazy thing is, both have happened within the same week!
This has given me a huge current state of paranoia, not only for my safety in public places, but also fear of going on buses when there is someone sitting behind me.....
Regards,
Jamie
I think they are from minds that hate and have no respect for anybody probly themselves included.Some people just have to hate sombody and if there is no one else Longhairs can and will be a target.Maybe even the first one in some places.
Part of me wants to offer my condolences and suggest that you file an assault and battery report with the authorities. Another part of me wants to eye you, suspiciously, for telling what sounds like an incredibly tall tale.
Beyond that, I've got nothin'.
it just goes to show the ignorance of people .. because a person chooses to be different they get treated like shit. no-matter what race you are , who you support , what style you like. some-one will always have a issue with you. and as a minority it becomes much harder cause many more people have problems with who you are.
Damn! Things like this really drives me mad, this is soo immature behavior, like they were 12 years old or something, in your case i would've taken some friends with me and search these guys up and beat the crap out of them, naah only Jokin! But i would be so damn mad i wouldn't have known what do do!!
Of course the best thing to do would be to contact the police or something about the whole incident.
An i know from my own experience when i was younger, about 7-10 years old, i was often lonely and quiet, pretty rejected from the rest of my class, and it dit get a little bullied a few times from older pupils, but it was not that extreme. Nowadays it's totally different, i've got soo much self confidence and won't let anyone let me down.
Maybe this was a little off topic but anyway, just wanted to share my story.
Hope you're ok.
Life holds an abundance of challenges, good and bad and if we shy away we lose, if we face them we win.
Make sure you are ready to win next time it happens.
Just remember that the modern world creates a bubble for everyone, thinking that they are something different from everything else, which is false.
We are humans living on earth for survival and if you cannot survive, you cannot live. Break through that bubble and live like a true man, whatever happens will happen, but you can change it!
I am so sorry to ear this... I hope you are ok =(
Is there anything you can do about those guys? Maybe talking to someone in the gym, or even police?
Mm... I hope you are ok realy, that is a REALLY bad thing =( People are so stupid...
Thanks for all your lovely replies.
I don't think there is anything I can do.. I seem to think that it was somewhat of a "one-off". They seemed pretty harmless and non-threatening previous to when they picked a fight with me.
I am sort of more shocked about the chavs cutting off the man's pony tail on a bus!! Was it a dare? (and what kind of chav thinks to themself: "Right, gotta pack scissors in my bag today. Some of my mates might dare me to cut someone's hair off".
...I mean, man alive!!!
Unfortunately there are chavs everywhere in England. They are trouble some to everyone but they look for an excuse to beat you up. Luckily in my town there are a good amount of metal heads and some of them are solid. So there are the occasional fights
English vs. Irish...I guess there are still a lot of hard feelings there! I'd either go to a different gym, talk to the manager of the gym, or avoid those guys. They only messed with you since it was five to one, and all they did was expose their cowardice. This is typical group behavior though. But, I find it a little hard to believe this happened unless it was a really crappy gym that attracts lots of rough folks to it in a bad part of town!
Hi
Jamie
Very sorry to read you where subjected inmature behaviour though mindless morons that have nothing better to do with there time than to gang up on one guy because he chooses to have long hair, oh well they always say what goes around comes around and it usually does happen that way to at least they will get a taste of there own medicine !
Axel
Eh....I had long hair since I was 16-...(Growing it back out) till the time i was 26 and its always been past my shoulders,and ive Never had a problem with anyone saying anything,Those people are just Ignorant (like racist) ..I simply dont put up with them...If someone straight up comes at me with a comment like that im going to retaliate with the same rude remark,if someone touches me im going to retaliate again ''Do unto others as they do unto you'' has always been my motto,Keep it growin!!! And if they dont like it, F' em!!! Derek
Its things like this that really make me angry. I mean I know violence is really not the way but those guys all deserve a good beating, but chances are it won't make the situation any better. BUT having stood up for yourself would make them realize your not gonna allow them to walk all over you, just some advice for next time; majority of the time bullies are real wimps but prey on those who are against violence..or they go in groups. Cowards to be straightforward. I really hope this was a one time thing, and hope your okay.
Those guys really deserve to be beaten up, although i know violence isn't the right path, but when you're really angry you always think like that anyway, at least me.
Simon
WOW!! Interesting.. I've been to the UK 7 or 8 times and to Ireland once and never experienced even the slightest bit of attitude from people concerning my hair. I would avoid that gym if I were you. Glad you weren't hurt.
While in no way condoning your being beaten up, maybe ten minutes brushing your hair in front of a mirror at a gym is excessive and will stimulate thugs.... Maybe just do the minimum brushing in future.
If I had some toughs asking where my skirt was, I think I would have said it was in my gym bag! Of course, it's hard to think of a quip at the time, but it's better to answer them back than let them think you're scared of them.
I am English, but also partly Irish. If there's so much animosity between the English and the Irish I suppose I should beat myself up! Personally, I've never really noticed anything of the kind. I apologise on behalf of all the Irish.
Trying to verify the story about the chav's cutting of a guy's ponytail I found this:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4763151.stm
...about a bloke who is doing hard time for ABH (actual bodily harm, next step up above assault and battery in English criminal law) solely for cutting off his ex-girlfriend's ponytail.
I heartily approve - lock them all up!
From the legal perspective, I have been in some threads, not necessarily on this board, where there was some doubt expressed over whether forced haircuts were even assault and battery. I never doubted that they were, and privately had even wondered whether it was ABH. It seems I was right. However, there is no particular equivalent of ABH in US criminal codes AFAIK, and nor is ABH a tort, so the tort (for suing the perp) would still be assault and battery, in any common law country.
Bill - obviously criminal codes vary state to state, but what criminal offence do you think it would be in Illinois, for example? I don't think it would qualify as aggravated assault, and I'm not aware of an in between offence in US codes, so assault and battery, or is it even called that?
Alun
Really sorry to hear about that. This is why i'm actively building up muscle since a year ago and training in kick boxing. Hopefully within a year i'll be able to stand up to a more than 2/3 people at once.
The scary thing is that i'll be moving to london next year to go to Uni, and if this shit is happening there (I live in Belgium atm) then that's not very good.
Personally i'll be buying a motorbike soon as I hit 18, so no one will be sitting behind me with scissors, and you can always use the helmet as a weapon and the armor gear as protection.
I'm thinking of joining some sort of longhair biker gang (they probably exist) so that we can do some vengeance on pricks like these. Slowly but surely they'll stop doing it.
We had trouble with skinheads in London thirty plus years ago. Chavs sound similar, in behaviour at least.
I was once invited to join the Nomads MCC, but I declined. They seemed OK, though, if more interested in knives and machetes than in motorcycles! They are allied to the Hell's Angels All England Chapter. I knew someone who was asked to join the Hell's angels and turned them down also. He was in prison for drug dealing at the time. I, on the other hand do not have a criminal record!!
I got to know some Nomads in a biker bar in Kingston-on-Thames. I used to go there a lot and so did they. I remember a party that they invited me to once. Not enough girls there, just a lot of bikers boring eachother's ears off talking about BSAs and Nortons and large knives, LOL! I passed out drunk on the floor.
You may as well know as much as I do about UK biker gangs (or stricly speaking 'patch clubs', meaning they wear a denim cutoff over their leather jacket, usually with a 'club patch' that has the club name at the top and the chapter at the bottom) if you are seriously interested, although I am way out of date.
There were a lot of Hell's Angels chapters in the UK that had nothing to do with Hell's Angels USA, because they grew up independently. When the American Hell's angels found out about this they set up a nationwide chapter that was affiliated, i.e. the All England Chapter, which is the 'official' Hell's Angels. Despite this, other chapters continued to exist, and there were sometimes fights when they happened to meet eachother.
The Nomads were an unusual case, because they were originally an unofficial HA chapter, but neither stayed independent nor joined the All England. Instead they literally swore an oath of allegiance to the HA but stopped using the HA name themselves.
There are, or were, other patch clubs that aren't HA, such as the Road Rats in Surrey and Satan's Slaves in the North of England. The Road Rats had a reputation of being nasty. These have no connection with the HA, and are liable to clash with the latter.
One other thing, the HA in America have a rule that they are never allowed to ride Japanese bikes, and I think they have to own Harleys. In the UK, OTOH, the HA only have a rule that you must own a bike over 650cc, and I have seen members of the Hell's Angels All England riding Hondas for example, even though that wouldn't be accepted in the US.
Harleys used to be about twice as expensive as other bikes in Europe, although they came down a lot after HD came under the control of Willie G Davidson, and I think this is the reason. OTOH, I have never seen a Hell's Angel on a sports bike, and I think owning one would make you a figure of fun amongst these guys.
I don't think it's a wise thing to join any of these groups. If you did and they got in a fight with another club, you would be honour bound to join in. Think carefully about what that committment would really mean. I don't think it's really worth it just to have a bunch of big friends to beat up the chavs.
Well, I didn't think there would be so much infighting between clubs, and I sure as hell plan on a Kawasaki 250cc bike as a starter rookie bike, and then eventually onto the 1000+cc Suzuki's, not really that much into Harleys, or their price tag.
I wonder though, how much racism goes on in these gangs? I'm not exactly British (far from it) though Caucasian, so i'm not sure if they'd let me in. In any case, i've got no problem getting into a fight if there's a good reason for it. If it's something incredibly minor or in my opinion trivial then i wouldn't be as willing. I'd basically need a cause, and the type of bike someone is riding (for example) wouldn't cut it.
Anyway, i should get my license and hit the right age first. I'm probably thinking too far ahead.
I think a lot of people have the fanatsy of joining a "long haired biker gang", but I have seen the reality from the fringes, so to speak, and although I won't say I wasn't tempted, I wouldn't say it's such a good idea.
Most people don't understand how these groups work, including law enforcement, who tend to see them as "gangs" in the criminal sense of the word. That isn't what they are atall, although some crimes occur for various reasons. One reason is that some members want to spend all their time involved with the club and not hold down a job, which often leads to drug dealing as a way to support themselves, although others go to work everyday like anyone else.
Few people realise that they have a written set of rules, although that seems less civilised when you realise it is enforced by a 'sergeant-at-arms' who is invariably a very large person, generally big enough to pick two guys up bodily and bang their heads together. This is at least true of the Hell's Angels, and any group directly modelled on them.
***An update***
It seems that instead of an All England chapter, there are now once more multiple Hell's Angel chapters in England, but with official blessing. Also, the Nomads apparently have permission to use the Hell's Angels name again (ummm, this means if I had decided to join the Nomads I might now be a Hell's Angel!). I got this new info from the Hell's Angels website. Everyone's online in the 21st century.
You should probably be thinking more along the lines of joining an ordinary motrcycle club. I think it's a safer option.
That's why I'm opposed to mass transit. That's why individual cars or SUVs are the way to go. There is no human dignity in riding a bus.
If you are going to need to defend yourseld because of your hair, Judo is the best option. It takes commitment but it is the most amazing martial art. After one year you will be pretty kick ass if you keep at it.
www.judoforum.com If you are interested.
Peace
Leito