I have never seen the Isle of Wight Gazette before and how does it link to the forum? I used to live there.
Yep crazy crazy world we live in! Jo
Re: Political Correctness gone potty...again...
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:47 pm
by peterd
it was in the star as well today
Re: Political Correctness gone potty...again...
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:37 am
by SRD
I suspect this has more to do with context than the story makes out, I think the quote “He didn't start the song just because Chinese people were walking past. He had already started playing it.†might have a bit more to do with it. It would be most unusual for the Police to actually arrest someone, and keep then in the cells overnight, rather than just having a quiet word with them, they've usually got far too much else to do, just think of all the paperwork such an arrest would generate let alone the headlines bringing their action into disrepute. It may well be that the 'entertainer' has a record for playing songs appertaining to the national characteristics of people passing by, it may be that this isn't the first time that particular couple have been followed down the streets by the strains of that particular song (a song I personally think it should be a criminal offense to play anywhere, anytime, anyway ). As is so often the case with these sorts of stories there's always a lot more to it than the reporters choose to include. I used to have a girlfriend on the Isle of Wight and usually found the citizens there (as opposed to the traders who were always most helpful) at best stand-offish and at worst downright unwelcoming so an 'entertainer' who took the mick out of the grockles may well go down well with a local audience.
I recall visiting Dreamland in Margate when I was in my teens; I was a bit of a greaser and me and a few biker mates were staying locally with one of their grandmothers (a story in itself, can you imagine; anything up to a dozen greasy bikers and their machines staying in a two bedroomed bungalow on a retirement estate in Herne Bay ). We got to Margate early and Dreamland was just opening up so we went in and had a wander around, we were brought up short by a bellow from a huge skinhead who was running the Dodgems "Hey! You lot! This one's for you!" And he put "Johnny Reggae" on the sound system.