2am, group of lads on the street

[yello]

When doing my 600 brevet a couple of weekends back, I passed through a town at small hours. I approached a group of lads (late teens maybe) walking at the side of the road. I thought 'oh bloody hell, here we go'. The spidey senses went to full alert. I had no idea what to expect. As I passed, they turned and one shouted....

.... "bravo!!" The rest joined in, 'super, excellent' and they all applauded as I disappeared into the distance.

It's brilliant being wrong sometimes isn't it?

 

[Globalti]

"Bravo"? Bloody hell, they must have been Oxbridge graduates. Oh wait... I've just noticed, you're in France!

 

[yello]

Oh wait... I've just noticed, you're in France!

Yes, and it helps if you can imagine the accent, Cluzo like... brA-vo, su-Pair, ecks-zalen... etc

 

[Arch]

Reason, if reason were needed beyond the food and general ambience, to live in France.

 

[Chromatic]

In France, no
In Britain, probably

 

[Archie_tect]

Alons-y!

 

[david1701]

not really I live in Cornwall

 

[funnymummy]

Worried..? Me...? Nope!

 

[ColinJ]

When doing my 600 brevet a couple of weekends back, I passed through a town at small hours. I approached a group of lads (late teens maybe) walking at the side of the road. I thought 'oh bloody hell, here we go'. The spidey senses went to full alert. I had no idea what to expect. As I passed, they turned and one shouted....

.... "bravo!!" The rest joined in, 'super, excellent' and they all applauded as I disappeared into the distance.

It's brilliant being wrong sometimes isn't it?

Meanwhile, back in the UK!

Wherever you go these days, chavs lurk. In this case it was under the railway at Sowerby Bridge. I had stopped for a few moments to fend off an attack of the Dozies, thus it was Pat who copped the lot, coming out of the encounter having had his pannier pulled off, his rear mudguard damaged and his parrot mascot half-inched. He was putting everything back in order when I, having got away with no more than a cry of "kick 'im", caught up, and he had even managed to retrieve the parrot without being eaten.

 

[bobg]

Just to reinforce your comments about preconceived ideas, my son wandered in last night with a a disreputable looking group of lads and I opened the door expecting them to wander past me without saying a word when the first one put out his hand and said " how do you do sir, its very nice to meet you"... I stood there like a loon with my mouth hanging open..

 

[Brandane]

Ahhhh yes; the French attitude to cyclists . Took me a while to realise that when cars toot their horns at you on a climb, it is an acknowledgement of your efforts rather than the British "GTF off my road" version.

 

[cyberknight]

Sorry my teenage years are a total blank , all blocked off for a period of about 5 years after my mum died , i cant say my teenage years were fun at all looking back they must have been really shite , i still have trust issues in case some one up and dies on me .......

 

[Hover Fly]

On the other hand, a few years ago there was a fad in Bordeaux for two caillos* on a moped riding up alongside a cyclist and the rear youth attempting to push off the cyclist. At least one , possibly more of the mopeds involved ended up in the Garronne.

* Sounds like, i've never seen the word written down, roughly equivalent to ned, scally etc.

 

[Canrider]

Walking through downtown Toronto late one evening around this time of year, a limousine rounded the corner in front of me. A young man, baseball-capped and T-shirted, was leaning out the open rear window. I steeled myself for a torrent of drunken frat-boy abuse.

He shouted:
"Hey! ARA! Fight Racism!"

..and the limo sped off into the night.

 

[Ludwig]

We used to run a stall in a city center for many years and it was often the unruly looking' chav' youths who were the most polite and respectful whereas the old men and women in their flat caps would be quite rude also middle class professionals can be quite irritating and rude. Its all about perception and how the media portray and stereotype various groups in society.