This is particularly poignant, and timely, considering the thug that king-hit (and subsequently killed) Thomas Kelly is currently in court awaiting his justice.
Sadly it's incredibly likely that the poor parents of Thomas won't get the justice THEY so sorely deserve, with history indicating most sentences for killing someone with a punch are woefully inadequate due to some stupid loophole in the law that allows these bastards free in a few short years instead of the lifetime they deserve.
But it does really highlight the sad reality that one punch really CAN and more importantly, DOES kill and that violence in any form should not be tolerated.
Now I'm about to put the 'back in my day' hat on for a moment here (which I promised myself as a kid I would NEVER do but there you go)...
....so back in my day (ahem 80s and 90s) violence certainly was not unheard of. There was a time or two when I would be at a club and forced to do a crabwalk away from a few morons who'd had a few who decided to punch on.
A friend or two of mine were also victims of the odd random attack, usually when
The thing was, there was usually a reason, perceived or stupid or otherwise, but the perpetrator usually THOUGHT at least there was some act that precipitated the violence. Someone was 'winning on' to their girlfriend (definitely showing my age here) or they looked at someone the wrong way, or perhaps they just didn't like the cut of their jib. And the fights were generally short, sharp and then over.
Back in the day, there was also generally a reasonable chance of talking yourself out of trouble. Personally I was targeted by someone itching for a fight more than once, however due to some fast talking and smooth moves I managed to escape without a single punch being thrown. Maybe it's because I'm a precious girl and really don't want to be hit, but I didn't have any loss of pride from managing to walk away unscathed...in fact I was pretty damn proud of the fact.
So a year or two ago I was in the Brisbane Valley one night when across the road a brawl of epic proportions broke out. I've never seen anything like it, about 30 kids attacking anyone and anything that moved for no discernible reason that I could see. It was frightening. I was scared being even in the vicinity watching these kids capable of such violence. It was animalistic.
And there, in my opinion, lies the difference between the 'violence' of yesteryear and today. We were the original generation of 'binge drinkers' so the alcohol factor was in existence then too, but somehow we seemed to have more care for other humans than we do today.
Recently I heard of an event where two guys ruined a party through fighting for the absolute STUPIDEST reason I've ever heard of...it resulted in arrests for both and court cases pending. And yet another workplace re-examining their view of treating their teams to any alcohol related 'fun' activities. Meanwhile, these same idiots then blame the companies for being the 'fun police' instead of taking a good hard look at the behaviour that caused it in the first place.
Unfortunately there's a pervasive attitude throughout our society that you put a bunch of blokes together, fill them with piss and it's inevitable that trouble will occur.
Sorry, that doesn't wash. The majority of us can go out, celebrate, have one too many and still manage not to end up in the watchhouse for drunk and disorderly and/or assault. I've worked in many places where everyone knew the line and knew the standards and also knew they'd be jeopardising their employment if they refused to conform and this is the way it should be. We never had to be told how to behave, we just did. It was universally accepted that if we broke the rules the 'treats' would be taken away and so therefore we had fun...so much fun...and perhaps too much fun...but we never crossed the line.
So I welcome this campaign. Personally I want to live in a world where I can safely go to a party or a pub and not be at threat of being caught in the crossfire of some idiots with a few too many under their belts. I want to not have to be the 'fun police' by having to consider and debate how to approach events that contain alcohol. I want these instant-assholes-just-add-alcohol to realise that it isn't just their jobs on the line, but also perhaps their lives. It might be their head that hits the concrete one day, resulting in death or disability. Or it might be the better part of their lives spent behind bars with someone else's death on their conscience.
If we can get this through to just one bloke then it's all worth it.
So there's my grandstand for the day. What do you think? Do you think violence is just inevitable when alcohol is involved?
xx
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