Fear | Satire
Fear and Loathing in Suburban England
What’s wrong with the middle class these days?
I used to hitchhike around the UK during the 1990s. I had no car at the time, plus public transport was expensive and unreliable. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed meeting people, I loved traveling on unknown highways, and I loved the risk.
My father always told me it was dangerous. Said you don’t know who’s going to pick you up. Everyone’s a psychopath these days!
I found that unfair.
In the late 70s, growing up in Leeds, West Yorkshire, my parents let me play out until late on the streets with the other kids. The same streets that — if you have any criminal knowledge of the UK — were being prowled at the time by a guy called Peter Sutcliffe. AKA the Yorkshire Ripper.
A man who killed thirteen women and attempted to murder seven more in the Yorkshire area between 1975 and 1980. Yet my parents allowed us to play out as normal.
Imagine that today?
Even in the absence of a serial killer, most parents don’t let their children play out like they used to. My cousin’s children (aged 14 and 12) have NEVER played out. Instead, they are shepherded to and from school in their parent’s SUV. At the weekends are ferried to and…
