Curtain-twitchers

[Twit 2]

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/search-and-rescue-for-londoners-travelling-to-winterton-7312958

Obviously, their trip out of London was inexcusable. BUT, the search and rescue shit could have been avoided. Reading between the lines, they went for a long walk and were never in any harm. If these "Coast Watch" cunts hadn't been logging their arrival with one hand on a clipboard and the other down their pants, no money would have been lost. "Ooh, 4 hours too long for a walk, they must be dead."

Neighbour Watch type busybody cunts boil my piss. Scum. Sub-human scum. They're in the same tier as peedo-hunters. Pathological desire to tell people off as part of some power trip, cause more problems than they solve.

Thoughts?

[Fambo Number Mive]

Considering there is no limit on how long you can exercise for each day, and I presume that these people did not enter the water for four hours, there is no justification for them calling out the coastguard. I don't understand why they are logging when people enter and leave the area - the guidance is about how long you travel for a walk surely not long you walk for. It seems like a clear waste of the Coastguard's time. Unless there were reasons for welfare concerns or something, I think the volunteers should consider paying for the cost of the Coastguard's response.

[El Unicornio, mang]

There was a story a few years ago about a guy who was on the train and saw a theatre group at a table practising lines for a show. They had some props on the table, including a rubber gun  and this person decided it was his duty to call the police in case they were "terrorists or something". Shortly after, the train was brought to a standstill and an armed response unit swooped in. Sometimes using basic common sense is better than "better safe than sorry!"

[BlodwynPig]

There was a story a few years ago about a guy who was on the train and saw a theatre group at a table practising lines for a show. They had some props on the table, including a rubber gun  and this person decided it was his duty to call the police in case they were "terrorists or something". Shortly after, the train was brought to a standstill and an armed response unit swooped in. Sometimes using basic common sense is better than "better safe than sorry!"

Yeh, the troupe have just been released from prison after 2 years in prison - 'the CPS have just dropped the charges'

[Icehaven]

It's like something from a lazily written sitcom where the protagonists make a small mistake but it creates a huge situation because everyone else reacts in a totally unreasonable and unrealistic way. Surely the police and coastguard etc. should have needed more justification for launching a search than a car being parked for 4 hours, particularly in the middle of the day in broad daylight?

[Consignia]

Neighbours of my parents operate a Stasi like suverliance operation on their neighbours, with a load of CCTV cameras and even a drone that they operate. They know completely the whereabouts of everyone on the street, and try to get the other neighbours to rat perpetrators out to the filth rather than do it themselves.

[frajer]

A well-meaning and personable neighbour has set up a street WhatsApp group and a lot of other neighbours have joined. From what I hear this isn't uncommon these days.

I lied to my neighbour and said I don't have Whatsapp because the idea of getting updates about "street news" made me want to kick a snowman's head off.

[Blue Jam]

Neighbours of my parents operate a Stasi like suverliance operation on their neighbours, with a load of CCTV cameras and even a drone that they operate. They know completely the whereabouts of everyone on the street, and try to get the other neighbours to rat perpetrators out to the filth rather than do it themselves.

Can you fuck up a drone camera with a laser pointer?

[Chedney Honks]

Real cognitive dissonance for me because I hate Covid Flouters AND Nosy Neighbours. Hard to say who is worse here. I'm going to say they're all cunts and I hope they die.

[Icehaven]

A well-meaning and personable neighbour has set up a street WhatsApp group and a lot of other neighbours have joined. From what I hear this isn't uncommon these days.

I lied to my neighbour and said I don't have Whatsapp because the idea of getting updates about "street news" made me want to kick a snowman's head off.

Like local area facebook groups, these things are a great idea until some duffer blithely shares a racist joke or blames immigrants for the bins not being collected, and all hell breaks loose. So usually about one day.

[Janie Jones]

There was a story a few years ago about a guy who was on the train and saw a theatre group at a table practising lines for a show. They had some props on the table, including a rubber gun  and this person decided it was his duty to call the police in case they were "terrorists or something". Shortly after, the train was brought to a standstill and an armed response unit swooped in. Sometimes using basic common sense is better than "better safe than sorry!"

Hmm, using an imitation firearm is a serious offence carrying a custodial sentence in the UK. If this story is as you describe it, the theatre group were wilfully stupid and probably trying to be a bit edgy.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Hmm, using an imitation firearm is a serious offence carrying a custodial sentence in the UK. If this story is as you describe it, the theatre group were wilfully stupid and probably trying to be a bit edgy.

This is the case

https://www.bsbsolicitors.co.uk/blog/imitation-firearms-and-the-law-a-case-study/

I bought a replica gun a few months ago (for a video project) so I know the extremely strict laws regarding buying/owning/carrying imitation firearms. But still, I think in this case common sense could have been used since it was obvious they were part of a theatre group and that it wasn't a real gun.

That said, I agree that getting an imitation firearm out in public is a stupid thing to do. The one I have looks and feels like the real thing so I wouldn't even consider taking it out of my house, and would expect armed police to turn up if I did. But the guy was close enough to see it and knew it was a rubber gun with no barrel or trigger and reported it anyway, causing a lot of trouble and potentially putting people in danger by having armed police swarming a crowded train.

[Icehaven]

People just don't think. I've mentioned this before but a few years back Mr. Haven's brother bought him one of those tacky gun shaped bottles of vodka for his birthday, and a few months later I had to talk him out of filling it up with rum and taking it out in a holster when we went out for Halloween. He didn't initially see anything wrong with having a gun shaped thing in a visible holster in a city centre which often had armed police on patrol in the railway stations. I didn't fancy spending Halloween lying on the pavement with a load of policemen screaming at me (again...) so he relented. Silly man.

[confettiinmyhair]

Winterton is close to where people go to see the seals around this time of year. There's been several cases like this reported in the EDP, but unlike places like Happisburgh or much further along the coast near Brancaster or Wells, it's unlikely a beach walker would need the coast guard.

[metaltax]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to lump the National Coastwatch service in with Neighbourhood Watch/nosy neighbours. They exist to provide coverage of the coastline, mainly due to the lack of provision of a comprehensive professional coastguard service along all of our coastlines. If this had been a person who'd driven several hundred miles to, I dunno, throw themselves off a cliff, and the NC people hadn't reported it then they would have personally failed in the duty that they'd volunteered to provide and the organisation would have been criticised for not doing its job properly.

[Endicott]

It's not Beachy Head! Where you can't even take a look over the edge without someone wandering up to check you're not suicidal.

There's absolutely no reason to suppose that a pair of people who've just been away from their car for 4 hours are having any problems what-so-ever. One assumes if one of them got into any difficulty the other would raise the alarm. Busybodies is exactly what they've been, at least on this occasion.

[metaltax]

Look, if their job is to report things that look like they might be suspicious (at a time when people aren't supposed to be going outside their local area), then they did their job. We only know that it wasn't someone stranded by tides or dead at the bottom of a cliff now, with the benefit of hindsight. Even though they're volunteers they'll have a process to follow and specific things to watch for, just like the "real" coastguard. I don't see why this has to descend into calling people who volunteer to keep the coastline safe because the government won't trigger-happy busybodies.

EDIT: Also, if you read the story, you'll see that the Coastwatch people only saw a single person parking the car and the subsequent Tweet/Facebook post from the Coastguard service clarifies that they received a report of a missing person, not people. So, regardless of the fact that they were a couple, only a single person was spotted getting out of the car initially and so there's more chance that they could be in trouble on their own.

[Dusty Substance]

If I've learnt anything in the last twelve months, it's that I live in a nation of snitches and curtain-twitchers.

So-called friends on Facebook showing themselves to be the nasty NIMBY little Englanders I'd long suspected some of them to be.

Fucking hypocritical, inconsistent cunts.

[Fambo Number Mive]

If I've learnt anything in the last twelve months, it's that I live in a nation of snitches and curtain-twitchers.

So-called friends on Facebook showing themselves to be the nasty NIMBY little Englanders I'd long suspected some of them to be.

Fucking hypocritical, inconsistent cunts.

I guess it depends what they are reporting. If someone is having two dozen people round for a party during lockdown I think that should be reported, given the number of people's lives which could be indirectly put at risk. If someone is not always 2m away when walking past someone outside, I wouldn't report that.

[Icehaven]

Look, if their job is to report things that look like they might be suspicious (at a time when people aren't supposed to be going outside their local area), then they did their job. We only know that it wasn't someone stranded by tides or dead at the bottom of a cliff now, with the benefit of hindsight. Even though they're volunteers they'll have a process to follow and specific things to watch for, just like the "real" coastguard. I don't see why this has to descend into calling people who volunteer to keep the coastline safe because the government won't trigger-happy busybodies.

EDIT: Also, if you read the story, you'll see that the Coastwatch people only saw a single person parking the car and the subsequent Tweet/Facebook post from the Coastguard service clarifies that they received a report of a missing person, not people. So, regardless of the fact that they were a couple, only a single person was spotted getting out of the car initially and so there's more chance that they could be in trouble on their own.

But I'm still surprised the police/coastguard's reaction was to launch an expensive full on search and rescue operation, based on the information they were given - person parks car and walks off along popular coastal walk in broad daylight in good weather and isn't back after 4 hours. If it was getting dark, or the weather was bad, or the car was there for a whole day, or the perp had been wearing a bathing costume then fair enough, but having a huge search for someone that they must have strongly suspected was fine and had just broken lockdown to go for a long walk (presumably they checked the numberplate on the car and found it wasn't local) seems an overreaction. If they wanted to search for the selfish berk(s) who had obviously broken lockdown and nab them for it then good, but trying to say it was primarily motivated by concern for their wellbeing doesn't really make sense given the circumstances. There was no reason at that point to suspect anything bad had happened to them any more than in normal times when their exact same behaviour wouldn't have sparked concern or even been noticed.

[Dusty Substance]

I guess it depends what they are reporting. If someone is having two dozen people round for a party during lockdown I think that should be reported, given the number of people's lives which could be indirectly put at risk. If someone is not always 2m away when walking past someone outside, I wouldn't report that.

Personally, I'd never snitch on anyone.

[jobotic]

You're a soldier

[Dusty Substance]

You're a soldier

I got soul but I'm not a soldier.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Personally, I'd never snitch on anyone.

Not even if it might save lives and help avoid a fourth lockdown this summer? If you don't feel comfortable reporting people that's one thing but I don't see why you are annoyed at other people doing it. I think the whole "stop snitching" and "don't grass on people" culture in the UK is deeply problematic - what do you do if you find out that someone you know is a mass murderer, for example?

[Theremin]

- what do you do if you find out that someone you know is a mass murderer, for example?

Still wouldn't snitch, people change.

[Dusty Substance]

what do you do if you find out that someone you know is a mass murderer, for example?

I'd call the police.

But I wouldn't grass on someone for having a party.

EDIT: Actually, I've just remembered a time when I did snitch on someone. At an old job, I discovered that a client had a house packed full of animals. So much so you could hear the squawks, woofs and general zoo like chaos in the background during phone calls. The client in question was in no fit mental state to look after herself, let alone a menagerie in a small house, so I reported her to the RSPCA. Not sure if anything came of it, but as an animal lover I couldn't let that one go.

[Icehaven]

Not even if it might save lives and help avoid a fourth lockdown this summer? If you don't feel comfortable reporting people that's one thing but I don't see why you are annoyed at other people doing it. I think the whole "stop snitching" and "don't grass on people" culture in the UK is deeply problematic - what do you do if you find out that someone you know is a mass murderer, for example?

Some people have the attitude that authority is always wrong , even when it visibly isn't (see also Covid vaccine deniers). I was on a bus years ago and the inspectors got on and found a bloke who hadn't got a valid ticket. They started telling him he had to get off the bus, and some woman (who wasn't with him) started roaring "Crumb snatchers!! Just leave him alone!" at them. Presumably she'd paid for a valid ticket herself but seemed to prefer that other passengers travel for free rather than someone in a uniform be right.

[Zetetic]

Well, one other passenger on this occasion.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

If I've learnt anything in the last twelve months, it's that I live in a nation of snitches and curtain-twitchers.

So-called friends on Facebook showing themselves to be the nasty NIMBY little Englanders I'd long suspected some of them to be.

Fucking hypocritical, inconsistent cunts.

Yeah, and the police have been gleefully going after low hanging fruit, harrassing individuals and couples causing no meaningful harm. It's been the opposite of a virtual circle. A crucible of cuntery.