Days Of Whine And Roses; Water Water; And Petrol Bombs In Bristol

Mum always wanted a doctor in the family and we’re feeling particularly obliging because we’re out there taking the pulse of the masses at large and posting our findings.

Saturday night’s test results were “thready” as folks we talked with were either engaged in Date Night behavior, “tired of politics” or comfortably in the arms of Bacchus and not in need of anesthetic or some know-it-all reporter/wannabe-physician.

We got an earful from women on dating protocols, life and loneliness and not so much from the guys – who appeared to be struggling just to get through the night. The ladies suggested we men need to tighten our game and dress up a bit more, perhaps make more of an effort than the traditional Old Navy-issue collared shirt, khakis and deck shoes worn sans socks. The common male refrain was “I just like to be comfortable.”

Many of the women – not all, but many – were spectacularly adorned and scented, wrapped in designer dresses, strappy sandals and cute, boxy little purses that seemed incapable of carrying more than a credit card and maybe a box of tic-tacs. Common theme among the ladies was “I like to dress up” and, aside from a few misadvertised “Hottest Ass On Tour” short-shorts and high heel failures (would you walk barefoot down a city street? No thanks…) the females carried the night’s fashion contest.

A side benefit of sobriety is its enhancement of observational skills and that came in handy late in the evening as others not so inclined began to slump or slur or scrabble for their rightful ownership of we don’t know what. John Law was out in force and maintaining a high visibility in the bars and saloons, wrapping up the few who let their excesses get the better of them and carting them off for a 24-hour wake-up with morning baloney sandwiches behind bars in Martinez. Good luck with that, kids. Our advice? Stay out of jail.

Speaking of Martinez and not far from the Greybar Hotel a group of neighbors donned water wings and manned the pumps as a water main burst in the unit block (cop talk for first block) of Valley Avenue sent everyone scurrying for the mops. Unknown cause except that main had had enough and simply said: “nope, that’s it, I’m done” and then it was water, water everywhere and call the local beavers for help as water levels began to rise.

Who knows, the sogginess may help cool them down during what promises to be another warmer than usual day in the 24/680.

Let’s see, we stopped to note police pursuit of a multiple murder suspect in East County during the wee hours, making a mental note of the car (white Infiniti) after the pursuit was apparently terminated. Yikes.

But we ended our evening’s diagnostic with a third-generation English stonemason trying to fit his pints in before last call and who valiantly tried to dodge our initial questions about the scene “Back in Blighty” where days of rioting have followed the horrific assault/murder of three young girls at a dance academy in the village of Southport.

Our stonecutting chappie had his views on 17-year-old murder suspect Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff and is the son of Rwandan immigrants – charged with murdering the three girls as well as 10 counts of attempted murder after eight other children and two adults were seriously injured in the attack.

He eyeballed us after we mentioned the UK judge taking the unusual move of identifying a juvenile defendant in a murder case and he nodded.

“Had to do that, didn’t he? People ain’t going to take it any more. If they felt the court was covering up they would have torn the country apart…”

As it is, episodes of street fighting and unrest have spread across the UK as the country comes to grip with its historically humane approach to immigration and a recent series of knife assaults by immigrants on British citizens. Rioting was reported in Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Hull, Belfast, Stoke and smaller towns and villages as police faced “serious and sustained levels of violence.”

That much of the unrest has been fueled by online disinformation campaigns and right-wing participation by groups such as the English Defense League had little effect on our stonemason, who shrugged off government reports that the assailant was Welsh born.

“They come, they suck up services, and then they kill us when they find religion or things don’t go well. What do you expect people to do but take to the street?”

We’ll see. It’s a big question and it’s getting bigger as the world’s populations begin to shift. But we couldn’t help but think of those “Mass Deportations Now” placards we saw hoisted at the Republican National Convention and wonder if this country, like England’s Green and Pleasant Land – has a tipping point of its own.