On my return to blogging after a turbulant 2011, I must express my deep belief that one should think of others and I return to my "Brownie Guide Promise"........
"I promise that I'll do my best, and do my duty to God, to serve the Queen and help other people and keep the brownie guide law"
"A brownie guide should think of others before herself, do a good turn every day"
I was seven years old when I made those promises and although I have made mistakes along the way, still to this day try to adhere to them.
I am bringing my children up to be considerate to others as well and that means being respectful of property and of peoples feelings.
Bearing this in mind, you can imagine how awful it was to have a teenage party going on across the road in our small and generally quiet cul-de-sac. 15 year olds drinking alcohol and being supervised by parents who were also drinking. Had the party remained in the house there wouldn't have been a problem but it spilled out into the street and below our bedroom window, also onto the roads at the back of us. Bottles being smashed, kids dodging cars so there were car horns and shouts, attempting to break in to the empty house by us and generally being disruptive. They are not the type of people who can be approached so erring on the side of caution my friend and neighbour called the police.
This was followed by the mother banging first on my front door where my husband was trying to sleep ready for a 6am shift and then on Frans door. She wanted to know who had called the police and why. The incident culminated in me tripping over and bashing my face as I tried to keep up with my fellow neighbours and finally my husband having to get out of bed and use his warrant card to disperse the crowds.....
We all have parties, we all love parties but the difference is we have respect for others and are mindful of their living conditions. On the one occasion I did organise a large party, I hired the local hall for £30 so that our neighbours would not be inconvenienced.
A sad state of affairs that generally people think that they have the right to do whatever they want albeit at the expense of others...... Food for thought!
I told you earlier on FB chat Sara about the 'After Prom Party' we had for Aaron and 40 of his friends! We live in a detached house, but we went and spoke to our neighbours about the party, and asked that if there was a problem they come and speak to us as we would be at home! We got permission from the parents of EVERY young person (in writing) for them to have some alcohol (beer and alcopops only!) and we took £4 off each of them and bought said alcohol! When they got to our home they were searched as they came in to make sure they did not have any more alcohol on them, and they were told that the only time they were allowed outside was to smoke and if they got too noisy, we were only upstairs and the party would be stopped! As they were all 16 to 17 years old, they were legally old enough to smoke, so this we found the most acceptable way to deal with it! Although we knew they were not old enough to drink, the alternative to having the party at ours was them all congregating in a field at the back of someones house, which we were not happy about as there would not be any adult supervision and no control on the amount they would drink!We retired to our bedroom, with kettle tea and coffee, and watched movies! They had a brilliant night, in fact most only left at 7 a.m. next day!!! We spoke to them twice I think to ask them to keep the noise down, and they put all their empty bottles/cans in our recycling bag! We received thank you cards and a gift from them all after the party! After 15 years as youth workers, both myself and hubby know that mutual respect for each other and as you quite rightly say 'thinking of others before yourself' is the way forward! In the case of your neighbours and their noisy party, it is perhaps not surprising that the youths were out of control, because so were the parents! They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves and the example they have set these youngsters!!!! xxx
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