Be Careful Out There!

[Neil Smart]

The actions that you took Keith would be out of reach to the majority of folk on here, to punch someone in the face breaking his nose is I am afraid beyond the remit and ability and dare I say the mentality of most. It's all very clear cut in good guy action films and perhaps angling mega gods.. but what about the rest?
OK you have the likes of Mr Boote quite able to administer not only verbal assault but seemingly would not think twice about using a knife on a 'Fruit Loppy'. If a Man of God can turn into Mac The Knife then I too can be the Predator.
Oh I am now shrinking violet I have worked as a policeman with dogs in the Forces, I have been in a few 'rucks', and even now I cannot turn a blind eye to those ferrell type kids that wreak havoc on society, as was last Sunday at Pershore where a group of 15 year old's and one in particular was acting 'leery' to women. He 'mooned' and then exposed himself, well he left pretty damn quick too with his mates in tow.
These louts thrive on the 'fear factor' in that they will not be corrected by members of the public, so it escalates, but a CONFIDENT rebuke without total humiliation giving them a reasonable face saving exit seems to work for me.

 

[Paul Boote]

OK you have the likes of Mr Boote quite able to administer not only verbal assault but seemingly would not think twice about using a knife on a 'Fruit Loppy'. If a Man of God can turn into Mac The Knife then I too can be the Predator..

So good of you to mention me. The "fruit loop" that I mentioned above was the real thing, the once-in-a-lifetime, "he was in the wrong place at the wrong time" psycho encounter that we hear about on Crimewatch and the like - I knew it within seconds of the man appearing out of nowhere and standing beside me, the man who forced his way into my swim to come to my help knew it (he told me afterwards, once the loon had headed off). I won't tell you exactly where this happened, but I can tell you that a lot of people in the area concerned carry knives - I had had four skunk-smoking poaching teens sight-fishing for a shoal of chub draw a knife on me a fortnight earlier for my "Hey, lads, this is club water, there's a free bit just down the..." delivered with a friendly smile.

So I prepared a knife in my pocket as that madman ran out of words, for I knew that something very very nasty was about to happen. Knew? No. It was immediate adrenalin rush and churning gut-feeling.

As for the knife... Not something I normally carry when fishing, but carried on days when I rove and don't even take a rodrest. Remember forked sticks? Surprising as it may seem but huge "sophisticated" fish will fall for a bait fished from a rod placed in one of these crude, free affairs. Some now might find this just plain weird, as the much-desired golden beauty could be falling to something presented by rinky-dinky super-sexy stainless steel.

 

[Paul Boote]

I see that the Vote-Chasing Right Wing Loons have now picked up on my "They don't like it up 'em, Mr Mainwaring" response to a true one-off loon - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13957587 - so it must be okay...