Streetlife

Firstly you should get your facts right before narrow minded comments. The maroon as you put it by Muslim men! Has nothing to do with Muslims. To educate you a little I will explain, it's a leaf called Pan which is chewed by native Indians after a meal to cleanse the pallet. It is irritating I know and should be addressed. See my point is it's frivolous comments like this that become bigger issues and is insulting.

I agree with the mother making her daughter relieve herself is wrong. Was she perhaps Christian or Jewish! See totally pointless to add someones belief as all religions are beautiful and should be respected..

calm down, tod t, i take the comment back then, would you be happier if i used asian gentleman chewing the maroon stuff. This is not a religious issue it is a issue of people what ever race or religion who act like dirty pigs and who are continuing to treat the streets of tooting like a rubbish dump, so get off your high horse about religion.  

http://www.elc.nhs.uk/news-and-publications/news/be-prepared-quit-tobacco-before-ramadan/ .This article May interest you.

You hit it on the nail. It is is not a Religious issue! It's a upbringing one. Sadly we sometimes talk a whole load of rubbish (mind the pun) instead of addressing the issue in a more constructive way. Only week I saw 2 guys happily drunk and urinating on someones car. ( apparently white and blonde hair) see second part totally unnecessary and offensive as we all urinate normally in toilets but for me to emphasize the second part stereotypes people. Perhaps I can forward you the BBC news link tap in John Terry.. I rest my case

Ill behaved people can be just that despite nationality, religion or colour.
I agree about Leanne's complaint of pavements being dirty in certain points and often this coincides with a restaurant being located there, as in the stretch of Totterdown Road that comes out onto Upper Tooting Road whre the Tooting market has its side entrance and then there are restaurants at the corner of the road.

The pavements are sticky, oily and smell of stale food. perhaps the council should see the restaurants  maintain the pavements alongside and ensure that they do so properly. Of course this is not the case only in Tooting, in most restaurants you find the rear or side alleys dirty and littered. Few take care to see that the food does not soak through the bags and soil the public pathways.

Tod, will you please stop inflaming things by attacking Leanne.  All she said was "i believe (that maroon tobacco) is chewed by muslim men".  She wasn't talking about colour or religion but was simply trying to explain to other people something that has not been seen until relatively recently.

Although I am sure that we are all grateful for your information on Pan, personally i don't care what the hell the stuff is called; where it comes from; who chews it; or what it's made of - it shouldn't be spat around by anyone.  It's just as unacceptable as spitting in the street or dropping half-finished takeaways in doorways.

As for that horrible, horrible "dumping" incident i am utterly at a loss - have we all really come to this......   So sorry that you had to witness this, Leanne - you have my sympathy.

I'd suggest contacting the police but i'm worried that Tod might have a fit of the vapours.......

Sarah kindly don't tell me what to do. I clarified a point that by stating Muslim men spitting is plain offensive and that is a offensive remark. Anyway I really don't wish to speak to you as you have a way of twisting words and adding more petrol to the fire. Perhaps the fox issue is bugging you anyway I don't wish to waste my time talking to you. I made a valid point and that's that. Let's not abuse this wonderful site by fueling offensive remarks about communities. Live and let live.

Ps reporting a mother for her child doing dump o the street hardly seems worth contacting the police. Let them focus on important issues. Let's grow up and get things into perspective.

oh dear, Tod, you just haven't understood my point.......   let me explain - Leanne was just describing the TOBACCO.  She said that the TOBACCO being spat everywhere was offensive - she didn't say that Muslim men spitting was offencive.

You had no "valid point" to make although you did pass on some interesting information about Pan and i felt that your diatribe was not only irrelevant but was just designed to make Leanne feel worse. 

And as far as people "dumping" in the street is concerned, defecating on the high street IS an important issue - it's antisocial, indecent, a risk to public health and totally unacceptable.  More than enough reasons to call the police.

Do what I'm doing, move to Putney, much nicer!

There are a lot of things that are not brilliant about Tooting but a few fellas chewing tobacco is really low down on my list.I enjoyed an evening in Mayfair yesterday and witnessed a well dressed middle aged white lady decorating the street with vomit. A tax payer funded Ambulance was called to sort her out.

Im more bothered about the fact that the only investment we seem to getting on the High St is bookmakers and pound shops.

I agree that s##tting on the street isn't great but the Police simply dont have the resources to spend time on things like this. We were burgled last year and had limited access to the Police which is a result of cuts etc. The fact a family allows their young child to take crap on Tooting High Rd - well who knows? maybe it is an education thing or just that they were desperate. I shat my pants on the Northern Line 10 years ago due to illness and believe you me I was very desperate. I bailed at Clapham North and hurled my suit trousers into a strangers garden - I still feel guilty to this day!

Lets get back to the foxes thread - much more interesting

ps - I quite like the foxes so leave them alone

although they should tone it down abit when they are shagging.

and to the family that alowed their child to take a dump outise TK Maxx - next time take a dump inside TK Maxx

I wish I hadn't read this post over breakfast!

Leanne, good on you for confronting the dumping culprit. There cannot be any excuse for that sort of behaviour and then abusing the public just makes it worse. The more people who confront anti-social behaviour the better! Though, obviously you need to choose your targets wisely ...  School kids chucking rubbish on the street are my favourite targets.

I'm also depressed by the state of our streets.  I'm glad to see litter bins making a re-appearance and I am old enough to remeber when they were taken away because of the bombing campaigns.  However, there seems to be whole generations that have not been brought up to use them or take their litter home.  We have lived in the area for over 23 years and it has always been dirty.

The education should come from parents and schools teaching future generations to be clean.  However, we all have aresponsibility.  I'm making a (small) start by taking responsibilty for sweeping my own bit of pavement/road.  How about it Streetlifers?

I just had to add this after reading all your points.  Some school kids sat outside my house on the kerb and ate their lunch last week.  When they left they left their empty carrier bags, polystyrene food boxes and chip papers along with unwanted vegetables.  I photographed them and the stuff they left behind. I contacted Graveney School, presuming they were from there as i live quite close,  sent them the photos and they confirmed the pupils were from that school.  A Head teacher telephoned me and told me she had located the culpits, they had all owned up, they were sorry for their actions and they even sent me a box of chocolates to say how sorry they were.  Their punishment for littering the kerb and pavement is to clean the streets surrounding the school, a little harsh you may think, but I bet they will remember not to dump litter in future.  I was most impressed on how the school dealt with this problem.
As for the child being allowed to mess on the pavement, I think that was disgusting.  Maybe we could do with some public toiletes in Tooting!!

Whilst Exploring on 'Streetlife' I find it interesting that the issues being raised in SW London are replicated by issues over here in E London and in both areas the comments on each of the threads also follow the same pattern, allegations of being racist, incorrect and assumed identity whether by race or religion and venting ones spleen in an over impassioned manner.

At the end of the day I feel, and I hope this feeling is shared by others, that it does not matter what race, creed or colour people are but if people want to come and live in this country then you will be welcome if you contribute to society and adopt the moral and social standards of the  majority of the indigenous population.( I accept that some sections of the British population do not set a good example)

P.S. 
Leanne U you may find it interesting to read the comment by Lesley S of Dagenham, raised some days ago on the same issue (just FYI)

How about spit tins in the areas that are affected. Bit like smokers bins. Guess better then spitting

We have the same fly-tipping issue on Gatton Road (parallel to Broadwater). It's getting worse - we even have a three piece suite on the road now!

I guess this would have been sorted long ago if we lived in a Conservative area of Wandsworth.

Ben

You obvious;y live in a posh area, where we are its often hard to distinguish what has been fly tipped.  

If you report the rubbish to the council someone has nicked it before they arrive to remove it (mind you this is often three weeks later).

Even had to stop some passers-by from taking the charity bag my neighbour had put on his doorstep yesterday.......but  I did get the number of their brand new BMW 5 Series as they drove away :)

after speaking to a number of asian gentleman yesterday, i have found out the name of the maroon tobacco spit, RMD, and this tobacco is chewed by indians and pakistani people, the pan is a totally different thing which is to cleanse the pallet after a meal, and i believe it is edible. I managed to have a chat with a council man who was sorting out the mess on st cyprians street yesterday, and he says unless you have photographic evidence of the people actually doing the dumping, and you are prepared to testify in court there is not much he can do, besides clear the rubbish. Last night myself and another local resident did our first night patrol on the high street, we chatted to people and found out that the human waste and collection of beer cans down the alley by broadway studios, is being left by a group of polish rough sleepers, a couple of asian men who drink down there have reported confronting this group after watching them litter and urinate, and then had a knife pulled on them.  The night patrols are going to continue and hopefully we will catch someone in the act fly tipping cameras ready to snap.

Good fact-finding Leanne - well done for trying to do something about it. I've not come across this maroon stuff before but there are a lot of other things that irritate me, for example when people chuck things over your front garden wall (in some cases including soiled nappies - thankfully other gardens not mine!) and seeing people litter the high street when there is a bin just meters away.

so frustrating hey! I do feel that these litter bugs need to be challenged, last night i confronted two teenage boys who dumped their chicken boxes on my road, i politely asked them to pick their boxes up and dispose of them at home, which they did.

In the past, police have advised us of the following. Anti social behaviour such as fly tipping or going to the toilet in a public space should be reported to the local police. Pulling a knife on someone or being abusive should be reported to the police as an emergency. In Price Close we have found the police helpful on these matters.

When I reported to the police that men were constantly urinating in our road ,I was asked to take a photo of them. These were very hefty Eastern Europeans and I am 79 years old, what was I supposed to say"watch the birdie"?