Croydon doesn't have the best of reputations, something many of us are trying to rectify through urban regeneration and projects like the Croydon Ambassadors. In fact the continued efforts of people like this, even promoting local businesses through The Best of Croydon, is and has made a difference.
So how can we raise the self-respect and pride of the minority of people still determined to fulfil their own purpose on this world by scrapping and spitting like feral cats on a night out?
Sadly last weekend was apparently another notch on the bedpost of Violence and Aggression in West Croydon. A street brawl on Sunday morning gave some 40 people something to do, which included beating one man with bats and running another down with a car.
I don't know what it was about, and I don't need to know. Whatever the cause, there's no excuse for losing your head. It may just result in you losing your head.
Come on Croydon, buck your ideas up, stop emulating The States and what you think 'real' people behave like. Real men walk away. Real women don't scream like banshees. Real people get a life and find something interesting to do so they can be an example for their kids and hold their heads up high. We're better than this.
Geoffrey