Speaking Out or Zipping It?

Knife violence to us is what gun violence is to the US.

I live in texas (but am a brit) where guns are common. I personally don't want to be around a gun even if the person is going off to a hunt a deer.

My brother was a victim of gun violence from someone randomly shooting out of a moving vehicle with the intent to kill. This was in America. He survived, thankfully. I feel far less safe with the threat of being shot than with being knifed. The motivation to corner and stab someone out in public is probably for theft more than murder, whereas with guns it's easy to shoot and kill from a distance just for the sake of killing.

I guess knives are the next worst thing for the criminal-minded to use and highly accessible. DH was flashed a knife as a threat while walking home some years ago past a group of delinquent lads late at night. I'd be cautious of speaking out to someone who may have that delinquent look about them, and would avoid walking near them if I can avoid it.

Most violent crimes are committed by people who know the victim.

In 14% of all murders, the victim and the offender were strangers.

Spouses and family members made up about 15% of all victims.

About one-third of the victims were acquaintances of the assailant.

The victim/offender relationship was undetermined in over one-third of homicides.

So basically, you are likely to be killed by someone you know, even if that person is just a friend of a friend type.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/relationship.cfm

So basically, you are likely to be killed by someone you know, even if that person is just a friend of a friend type.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/relationship.cfm

Hmm, don't you need to factor in that it's easier to catch the person if there's a connection between the assailant and victim.

In 33% of cases the assailant is never determined, that could mean that in 33% of cases the assailant is never determined, which evens that stat out to 47% of all murders the victim and the offender were strangers. (I'm not saying all of that 33% would be strangers, just that it COULD be)

I pick my battles, but generally have no fear in being polite and asking people to stop being idiots.

Man smoking on the bus? I would have spoken to the driver and asked for a copy of the drivers details (they can print a blank ticket with this info on it) and complain to the transport company or authority if First/Veolia/TM/Stagecoach dont care.

Ive asked a teen to stop playing his music loudly. I went up to him, with my phone in hand, and asked if he cared to listen to what I was. He said no and I told him, well I dont care to hear what you're playing either. He got all sheepish, coward into his hooded sweatshirt and the music went down. The driver thanked me as I left the bus. If he was with a few more of his mates and not by himself, I probably would have stayed quiet.

The head phone thing is annoying. I wish people would realise the bog standard headphones you get with your mobile or mp3 player only fit a select few in this world. The majority of us have different sized ear canals and because of ill fitting headphones, the music leaks and is shared with others. A cheapo £25 Sennheisers with adjustable ear pieces will work for most people. I leave the headphone thing down to shear laziness.

A cheapo £25 Sennheisers with adjustable ear pieces will work for most people. I leave the headphone thing down to shear laziness.

Personally I wouldn't put this down to laziness, to many £25 isn't cheap.

I have a habit of speaking my mind, too, when annoyed especially when someone is rude. My husband is also one of those people. But my Londoner friend who I lived with last year was always highly embarrassed when I would speak up. He always said, "Don't say that. People here don't act that way" but at the same time I'm thinking "That's why they do it... Because no one sticks up for themselves!" I always tend to err on the side of speak out, consequences later. Haha. Not always smart but I can cash a check that my mouth writes, so I'm not too worried about it. 

Personally I wouldn't put this down to laziness, to many £25 isn't cheap.

you can get even cheaper than that... if you can drop £100 on an iPod, you can spend another few quid on headphones that will fit and that cost <£15

Im not telling people to drop just as much on their headgear as they did on their portable music device, because for most people thats just silly, but the free ones you get are worthless - which is why theyre free. As they dont fit, there sound leakage and thus you become an annoyance. Its easy to solve with proper fitting headphones, that dont cost the world. Even at my poorest (living off tuna fish sandwiches & cereal), I could find the way to afford a $25 set of headphones that had adjustable fittings so they would sit in my ear correctly.

I have a friend from Uni who cheerfully thanks people who blast their music, saying she's an audiologist and is looking forward to their business.