Chez Kay
Andrew Kay is in a confessional mood and worried about the state of our streets
I am feeling so ashamed. The shame is weighing heavy in my heart and my soul. It burns there, like smokeless fuel. Smokeless because I have felt unable to talk about it.
Let me start at the beginning. It was a freakishly warm day and my brother, wife and my two nephews had come to stay. They live a few hundred miles away so I like to do lots with them when they are here. Which is why you could find me on the beach and ten pin bowling. We also like to go out to restaurants as they live in sleepy town on the edge of the Black Mountains.
“What can you do to fight hate crime and protect kids from things that they should not see or hear?”
The boys love Fat Leo, Donatello and Bardsley’s, as do I, so we knew that at some point we have to do one if not all of them. In the end we managed all three, no mean feat in two days.
Neither of them are easy to feed having more dislikes than likes, although there has been a marked improvement since my brother married the lovely Julie. These days you can get David to try much more and even Gabriel will be moderately adventurous.
On this particular night we had been to Donatello and had a fine supper. We all felt full and happy and had had a good time. It was a balmy night and after paying we drifted back through the Lanes.
Within a few minutes a gaggle of drunken youngsters, I would guess their ages at around 18, drifted towards us in high spirits. How nice I thought, until one of them started to shout at me. ‘‘Do you know any gay bars?’’ I replied that I did at which point he started to rant and scream a diatribe of graphic homophobic comment; the like of which no child should have to hear.
I was furious but rather than turning the other cheek I walked back to confront him. Drawing myself to my full height I grabbed him by his Tshirt and told him what I thought. Fortunately one of his mates, a big lad, my size, pointed out that I was picking on the smallest member of the group. I was, but only because he had been the sole offender.
I am ashamed that I resorted to this kind of aggression, I did not hit him, but I certainly used force to express my horror. What else can you do to fight this kind of hate crime and protect kids from seeing and hearing things that they should not? And yes I know too that they should not have seen me react in this way.
Surely it is at this time of night that the city centre needs to be patrolled by Community Police Officers. I so wish that somehow he could be properly made an example of. I am lucky, I at least can make an example of myself by confessing here.
