Cultural differences with anti-social behaviour

[alex397]

Travelling around Europe, I’ve only really witnessed anti-social behaviour in the UK. Well, in Europe there’s plenty of aggressive beggars in certain places, but I find they can be avoided if you put your head down and try and look like you’re a local.

I’m currently in Bratislava, Slovakia and there was some drunk thug on the tram. He was sat behind an elderly man, and decided to spit on him and eventually randomly punch him hard on the side of the face. This sort of random attack I’ve only really seen/heard of in the UK (though of course I’m sure it can happen anywhere)

What happened next interested me the most. Most people didn’t even bat an eye lid. The tram didn’t stop, the driver looked around but kept on driving. The only reaction was from one man who shouted, presumably at the drunken thug and presumably asking if the old man was ok. I did say to the man ‘do you speak English?’ In Slovak, but I don’t think he could. I was going to ask if he was ok. I couldn’t believe no one was helping this man. Surely he could end up with concussion or something later on? He kept saying saying about ‘conflict’ so I presume he was saying something like ‘I don’t want any conflict’ or something.
Everyone else just carried on with their daily lives. I can understand people keeping their head down in case they provoked the thug, but even after he got off no one seemed interested in helping the victim, or appear to have phoned the police. I’ll be thinking about the victim all day now! I wish I got a photo of him to maybe show the police later but I guess I didn’t want to risk him seeing me take a photo as goodness knows what he could have done.

Is there a culture in Bratislava/Slovakia of ‘not my problem’ or is it to do with assaults being common with no help from the police, so people were scared to get involved?
I feel safe in Bratislava. Or am I a naive tourist?

The point of this post is that I find cultural differences fascinating and was wondering what on earth that was about!

EDIT : Apologies for putting this in the wrong section

 

[duesselmartin]

I think in the UK anti-social behaivour on transport is less common because you need a ticket to get on the train, you have to enter the bus by the front door and present or buy a ticket.
The people you describe are often people from difficult social backgrounds (to put it politely). I am therefore not sure if the UK population are more brave than in other countries.

Wealth is also an issue. In poor places people have to fight for their position or benefit in life while in affluent areas most people have their bed made.

What I find shocking here in Germany is how the amount of people affected by drug abuse has increased massivly in the last couple of years.

 

[Bletchleyite]

To add UK views, I've generally found that there's a difference between a typical Scouse "scally" and a Southern "chav" - the former seem to still have a slight residual respect for authority and will stop vandalising the train if told by the guard not to, whereas down South it feels like a knife is as likely to be pulled as for the vandalism to cease.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2024 ==

What I find shocking here in Germany is how the amount of people affected by drug abuse has increased massivly in the last couple of years.

Same here, e.g. the "spiceheads" in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens which the police seem unable to resolve for some reason I don't quite understand.

 

[baz962]

To be honest it depends where and when you are travelling. Never forget when I was a driver on London Overground and was travelling in a rear cab and heard an almighty thud . I came out a few seconds later to find that some thug had punched a woman around sixty years of age.

 

[alex397]

I probably obsess over things too much, but I’m still thinking about the older gentleman earlier. He just walked off on his own, with no one helping him. Perhaps I could have done more - spoken to the tram driver maybe, or asked him again if he was ok. But I was really hoping a local would step in and help. It was a busy tram with people of all ages. Even the older ladies were ignoring it, who (stereotypically) might have made sure the man was ok.
This contrasts to a similar incident on a tram in Gdańsk that I’ve remembered. A drunken teen was causing aggro - many people were shouting at him to stop, and eventually a muscular man literally threw him off the tram. I guess I can’t judge an entire country on a single incident on a tram, but I find the difference interesting!

To add UK views, I've generally found that there's a difference between a typical Scouse "scally" and a Southern "chav" - the former seem to still have a slight residual respect for authority and will stop vandalising the train if told by the guard not to, whereas down South it feels like a knife is as likely to be pulled as for the vandalism to cease.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jul 2024 ==

This is one thing that’s put me off using Southeastern so much in the evening. The ‘train managers’ tend to just keep themselves to themselves and stay in one carriage (and I don’t blame them). I’ve witnessed all sorts and you feel helpless when there’s not many people about.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

It's probably very different today, but in 2019 I was entering the metro system in Kyiv when the (female) barrier attendant leapt up to detain a man who had somersaulted the barriers (ie not paid).
She rugby-tackled him and ejected him from the concourse to approving smiles all round (she was built like a rugby prop-forward).
I have never seen such physicality from railway staff.
Presumably her actions were approved by the railway management.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's probably very different today, but in 2019 I was entering the metro system in Kyiv when the (female) barrier attendant leapt up to detain a man who had somersaulted the barriers (ie not paid).
She rugby-tackled him and ejected him from the concourse to approving smiles all round (she was built like a rugby prop-forward).
I have never seen such physicality from railway staff.
Presumably her actions were approved by the railway management.

I've seen a ScotRail guard chase a (presumably) fare dodger off the train, out of the station and down the street, though she didn't catch him and just returned shortly after very short of breath. They're made of sterner stuff up there than in England.

 

[Struner]

I've seen a ScotRail guard chase a (presumably) fare dodger off the train, out of the station and down the street, though she didn't catch him and just returned shortly after very short of breath. They're made of sterner stuff up there than in England.

Indeed, they beat Spain in the run up to the EU2024

 

[Bikeman78]

I've seen a ScotRail guard chase a (presumably) fare dodger off the train, out of the station and down the street, though she didn't catch him and just returned shortly after very short of breath. They're made of sterner stuff up there than in England.

I saw a yob shatter a window on a Pacer with a beer bottle as it pulled out of Hengoed. The driver slammed on the brakes, then he and the guard chased the yob for a considerable distance. The glass must have been laminated because, though shattered, it was all still in place. It survived Caerphilly tunnel at line speed.

 

[zero]

In Germany and Switzerland on local/regional OPO trains, I have experienced people smoking/vaping and playing very loud music. Sometimes a member of the public tells them to stop but the perpetrators ignore them, the only thing you can do is move away.

 

[jon0844]

Vaping on trains is crazy here too. Vapes won't set off alarms, and it's scary to see the rate at which people do it. Train seats and floors are often flooded with the disposable ones, so if and when they're banned from sale I wonder if it will help at least with the school children who do it?

I've also seen more trains delayed due to smoke alarm activations, so guess some people are still sticking to regular cigarettes on board.

 

[J-2739]

Just yesterday evening on the stoptrain between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen in the Netherlands, a young male - who I suspect was a fare dodger - was chased at speed down the carriage and out of the train by a very irate guard. His shirt was dragged off in the pursuit and his shoes fell off as he was handled to the ground. The guard chucked these items out through the door just before the train was about to depart.

I can't say I have ever seen anything like this in the UK, but then again, I'm not totally sure what the young man was guilty of in the first place.

 

[DanielB]

Not something I've ever seen in the Netherlands either. Though this line now no longer has a guard on every train, but service and security staff checking tickets on many of them.

Usually however the staff of the regional operators seems a bit more relaxed compared to NS security staff, though they can be very strict regarding tickets.

 

[duesselmartin]

in German, private security of ticket inspectors are more rigerous than those employed by the operator (regional services). Often they tend to be of the body builder type. If the driver meets them, even he would buy a ticket