Let me say straight away that I hate the expression 'white collar' but I can't think of a simple alternative. Calling them middle class yobs isn't any better!
What I have in mind isn't thugs-turned-yuppies getting drunk and reverting to type. That's a different problem.
The kind of 'yobs' I mean are the ones who grab what they can from whoever they can and shout abuse or threaten court action if they don't get it. They are the ones who barge to the front of queues, whether as pedestrians or motorists. They sound off in bars and restaurants if the service isn't geared to them and them alone then, when asked to leave, they threaten to sue the owner. In short, they might use all the right knives and forks but they are completely devoid of manners.
I have just come across a good example of this kind of yobbery on an internal hospital forum. Somebody, somewhere had a spare kitten which they were trying to sell for £50. A little later, another spare kitten appeared for £30. Most recently a kitten was advertized as 'free to good home' and somebody else took it. They were horrified to receive a phone call the next day. The kitten's previous owner wanted it back and threatened to go to the police with an accusation of theft if it wasn't returned!
You can interpret this in many ways but it now seems that all three ads were placed by the same person with the same kitten. One distinct possibility is that someone turned up on her doorstep with cash in hand so she wanted it back to sell!
What I find so disgusting about all this is the readiness of somebody to shout "Thief" when they realize that they've given something away by mistake. Are such people really any better than common street scum?
What I have in mind isn't thugs-turned-yuppies getting drunk and reverting to type. That's a different problem.
The kind of 'yobs' I mean are the ones who grab what they can from whoever they can and shout abuse or threaten court action if they don't get it. They are the ones who barge to the front of queues, whether as pedestrians or motorists. They sound off in bars and restaurants if the service isn't geared to them and them alone then, when asked to leave, they threaten to sue the owner. In short, they might use all the right knives and forks but they are completely devoid of manners.
I have just come across a good example of this kind of yobbery on an internal hospital forum. Somebody, somewhere had a spare kitten which they were trying to sell for £50. A little later, another spare kitten appeared for £30. Most recently a kitten was advertized as 'free to good home' and somebody else took it. They were horrified to receive a phone call the next day. The kitten's previous owner wanted it back and threatened to go to the police with an accusation of theft if it wasn't returned!
You can interpret this in many ways but it now seems that all three ads were placed by the same person with the same kitten. One distinct possibility is that someone turned up on her doorstep with cash in hand so she wanted it back to sell!
What I find so disgusting about all this is the readiness of somebody to shout "Thief" when they realize that they've given something away by mistake. Are such people really any better than common street scum?
