Snakes don’t frighten my stepson — but muggers do

The Times Online (UK) ^ | 3/12/07 | n/a

[kiriath_jearim]

Mugging has become a rite of passage for young people, says Jane Gordon, whose stepson was robbed as he walked home from school.

There are a number of milestones in a child’s progress that middle-class parents rarely allude to and one of them — as Richard Madeley discovered last week — is “the first time your son or daughter is mugged”. In some ways Madeley can count himself lucky, as his 19-year-old daughter Chloe, who had her phone stolen, is an adult. For many, it happens at a much earlier age. Mugging has become, as Madeley put it, NFL (Normal For London) and, in fact, NFACUK (Normal For Any City in the UK).

[digger48]

Silly kid. Doesn't he know he's far likelier to die from Global Warming?

[ozoneliar]

I used to think the U.K. was somewhat similar to the U.S., but stories like remind me that the U.K. is just another European Slum.

[sbMKE]

They were called bullies when I was in school, not muggers.

[Cicero]

Maybe I'm dumb, but why would you steal a cell phone? The owner should immediately report it, and the number will be discontinued. Or are they still worth something because of their other functions?

[Argus]

Growing up in the greater Noo Yawk area, I got mugged several times as a teenager, but I was a husky boy, fought back, and never lost anything. I believe this was called "normal" in that day and age. Nobody ever pulled a gun on me though.

[Big Mack]

The brits have found that it is much less trouble to teach their young to be victims than teach boys to be men. Self defense is against the law and can get you sent to prison. In Scotland, the cool wet weather and lack of under ware under the kilt has caused all of the men's balls to shrivel up and fall off. A pocket knife in scotland will get you 5 years in jail. William Wallace, in heaven (or hell) is now telling everyone that he is French.

[pgyanke]

The result of gun control... makes wolves into sheep.