Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Uncontained rage not quite in the public realm.
This is more a musing than anything else, but I'd be interested to hear others' opinions.
I just passed one of our local bookmakers and witnessed a man, in a fit of rage, smash a beer bottle against a plate glass window. He then left, collected a couple more bottles from rubbish bins, went back in and finished the job of breaking the window.
I'm not sure how to respond to this. Clearly his violence was directed towards property rather than people and technically, though visible from the street, he was on private property.
But I assume that the bookmakers will just bar him and make no formal complaint so as not to draw attention to the violence that occurred on their premises. I feel uncomfortable that this kind of uncontained rage can go unacknowledged.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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This actually makes me laugh, the image of one of those idiots that put their house on a horse and lose, then try to blame anyone but themself.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Gambling is addictive James. More sympathy please.
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JMc* Why should i have 'more sympathy' for someone having a tantrum and smashing the place up ? it's hard to fathom where you're coming from sometimes.
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James was laughing at someone obviously not in control of themselves. Did you know that people can go into a bookie and using their debit card put £500 a time on these machines until ALL OF THEIR MONEY IS GONE? I feel very sorry for most of the customers.
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John mc* i Think you're confusing 'feeling sorry' for someone who is addicted to gambling and 'feeling sorry' for someone who has, for one reason or another, had a tantrum and smashed the place up. Of course i feel for the addict but it's another matter when that same person behaves unacceptably in public and probably really scares passing folk with kids etc. Pathectic behavior like this deserves derision and is, therefore in my opinion, funny. I can imagine that same person if they'd won their bet with their chest puffed out boasting to anyone that would listen. John, if you're going to reply to this post then do address all the points i made and not just cherry pick those that go toward making your point (which i still don't understand)
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I think its tragic that someone is so compelled and presumably desperate enough to gamble more than they can afford to loose. Maybe he realised that its all fixed, the odds are all stacked against him and that the bookies are laughing all the way to the bank at his expense. However 'uncontained rage' is not acceptable. I think your right about the bookmakers not wanting to draw attention to this sort of thing, at a recent enquiry into the clustering of betting shops in Haringey the bookmakers giving evidence were reluctant to address any connection between gambling and violence/ anti-social behaviour.
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Maggie* i was just wondering, do you think the betting shops should give odds in the gamblers favour and if so, how would that work ?
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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That is a really good question, whether the shops report this sort of behaviour or keep it quiet. Maybe we should report it if we see it, so that it gets recorded officially, what do people think?
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Permalink Reply by OneWomanAndHerDog on
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That was my dilemma really Alison. Am I just being an interferring busybody if I report it or a good citizen? My own sentiments towards gambling make it difficult to be objective but I think the man's behaviour was wholly unacceptable not because it damaged a bookmakers property but because it demonstrated a disregard for the people around him.
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I think if it is something like that then it is worth reporting it, if only so it appears on the stats that get reported when the police are asked about crime connected to bookies. If that isn't the case maybe someone from the SNT can correct me, but if the bookmakers chooses not to report it (and just bans the person) then the whole incident gets forgotton.
Maybe wishful thinking, but the industry do love to claim that their shops are not linked to crime and disorder, so anything that offers a more objective version of reality would be helpful.
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