For the last four or five years, a young lad called Denis has occasionally given me a hand on one of our attractions. Now Denis isn't the sharpest tool in the box, but over time he has become proficient in looking after our shooting gallery. Most of the time Denis works as a part time handyman or painter and decorator, he probably helped me less than a dozen days a year.
I haven't heard from Denis in about six months, so when I happened upon his cousin I enquired about his whereabouts. "Bristol Nick", came the blunt reply. Denis it seems is on remand awaiting trial for strangling his girlfriend! Now its an old cliche, but I didn't think Denis was capable of something like this, if he is guilty he should be put up against a wall and shot, but that will be determined by a jury of his peers. Reading the news reports on the internet, I happened upon one that stated Denis was an ex Fairground worker. WHY??????, he spent most of his time either unemployed or as an odd job man, so why isn't he described as an ex odd job man, or an ex painter and decorator?
A clue to one of the possible reasons behind this reared its head a few week later. A police inspector in Ripon, (a city where showmen including myself have excellent relations), penned an article reproduced in a number of local newspapers, where he slammed the fairground industry for "keeping alive the tradition of attracting yobs", and using up police resources. He went on to state that fairgrounds should be closed down and people allowed to go to Alton Towers and Florida!!! I wonder how much the Florida tourist board are paying him, and does he declare this second income. As a point of fact, the large fairs in the city, run by Stewart Robinson, have private security firms employed to keep order, and there is no evidence of police resources having to be used to run the event.
Perhaps if this inspector spent more of his time catching criminals, instead of trying to persecute innocent businesses, the street of Ripon would be a safer place to walk. Out of interest I wonder if the other 50 weeks of the year when there are no fairs in Ripon, does all of the teenage yobs disappear?
I haven't heard from Denis in about six months, so when I happened upon his cousin I enquired about his whereabouts. "Bristol Nick", came the blunt reply. Denis it seems is on remand awaiting trial for strangling his girlfriend! Now its an old cliche, but I didn't think Denis was capable of something like this, if he is guilty he should be put up against a wall and shot, but that will be determined by a jury of his peers. Reading the news reports on the internet, I happened upon one that stated Denis was an ex Fairground worker. WHY??????, he spent most of his time either unemployed or as an odd job man, so why isn't he described as an ex odd job man, or an ex painter and decorator?
A clue to one of the possible reasons behind this reared its head a few week later. A police inspector in Ripon, (a city where showmen including myself have excellent relations), penned an article reproduced in a number of local newspapers, where he slammed the fairground industry for "keeping alive the tradition of attracting yobs", and using up police resources. He went on to state that fairgrounds should be closed down and people allowed to go to Alton Towers and Florida!!! I wonder how much the Florida tourist board are paying him, and does he declare this second income. As a point of fact, the large fairs in the city, run by Stewart Robinson, have private security firms employed to keep order, and there is no evidence of police resources having to be used to run the event.
Perhaps if this inspector spent more of his time catching criminals, instead of trying to persecute innocent businesses, the street of Ripon would be a safer place to walk. Out of interest I wonder if the other 50 weeks of the year when there are no fairs in Ripon, does all of the teenage yobs disappear?