Ever since I moved to America to attend college four years ago, I now talk to my Mam more that I did when I was back in England. Funny, distance has made us closer. This weekend we talked the usual chit chat, gossiped about people we like and bitched about those we don’t. What I love to hear her talk about is what is going on in my hometown Workington- I miss that place like mad. The nightlife in Workington is amazing and is certainly not for the faint of heart; 63 clubs and pubs within a two mile radius will do that. Be that as it may, Mam had some interesting gossip, which makes me not quite so proud of my Cumbrian brethren. First of all Mam told me a woman was arrested for stealing over thirty fish from neighboring ponds. Hmmm. Another fellow was arrested for knocking a guy unconscious – the reason? The were watching soccer and they supported opposing teams. One guy couldn’t take the verbal barrage and so knocked the other one out. There’s rationality for you. And then there was the man who was just jailed for stabbing a school boy twice in the chest with a screw driver because he looked at his girlfriend. I cannot tell you how pleased I am that England has outlawed guns.
My favorite crime story this week was reported in the local newspaper Times & Star; there was a huge brawl outside of one of the popular nightclubs, Fusion. A week ago two lads from a nearby city, Carlisle, were beaten up in Fusion by the bouncers. The following week the beaten two and forty other lads from Carlisle hopped in a coach and came to Workington to get back at the Fusion bouncers. Once the Workington clubbers knew their bouncers were being messed up, they in turn, attacked the Carlisle lads. It resulted in a brawl including over 200 people. Absolutely ridiculous. And so goes the mentality of Cumbrians, they absolutely LOVE a drunken fight and it wouldn’t be a proper weekend without someone getting their head kicked in. Ahhh, the pride, the love…the stupidity. America is looking good to me.
Footage from the Workington brawl. Disjointed and blurry, but quite reminiscent of scenes I’ve witnessed before.
