# Little shits on a train **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 26, 2011, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404 "2011-12-26T06:35:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/101 "2011-12-28T22:39:52Z")
Part of the juvy crime/gang rates in the 90s was the crack epidemic, iirc. Here, gang crimes are going up and gangs are expanding. Denver had a gang problem in the 90s - especially in the high schools - that is seeing an upward trend. It went down a lot and now seems to be edging its way up (according to the news and DPD). And let’s face it - the longer you lock up people, the safer the streets will be (temporarily). Finally, not all crimes committed by juveniles are reported to law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/102 "2011-12-28T22:43:15Z")
To add: For those that grew up in middle class America, we’d never think of those things. But some of these kids are just acting the way their parents did 20 years ago. So we see what “other people’s kids are doing” and think, “Back in my day…” Well, back in your day, your ethnic background/neighborhood/religion/socioeconomic group may have never done those things. So for some of us, it’s apples and oranges. I grew up in Iowa. Hard for me to look at Seattle and say, “Kids these days!” if I didn’t grow up there. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/103 "2011-12-28T22:45:58Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Here, gang crimes are going up and gangs are expanding. Denver had a gang problem in the 90s - especially in the high schools - that is seeing an upward trend. It went down a lot and now seems to be edging its way up (according to the news and DPD). You can cite that then, can’t you? 'Cause I resubscribed to the Post approximately one minute after I got back in town, and I watch the local news on Channel 4 almost every night, and I’ve seen nothing in or on the news that gang crimes are going up. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/104 "2011-12-28T23:37:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Look at his posts under his profile. Look at how many start with “No.” I dunno who he is, but he seems to show up only to disagree. OTIO. > [@splatterpunk](#): > > This is, without question, the most retarded post I’ve ever read on this board. Don’t take this as a defense of the post, but if that’s the most retarded one you’ve seen, you’re clearly not spending much time here. Of course, that can be inferred from your apparent ignorance of the fact that you’re about five weeks early for Rape Month. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/105 "2011-12-29T00:17:55Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Anyway, there was also a notorious train shitter in London, i.e.a man who actually got on trains and shitted on them. Often in front of people (one was a friend of mine). I know he was eventually caught, but for some reason Google won’t accept me typing london, train and shitting or shitter or even shit into my search results - it changes them all to variations on shut - and I only have moderate safe search on. I found him [here](http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/1463644.train_defecator_detained_in_secure_mental_hospital/)with “train shitter”. > [@](#): > > Bonney Eberendu of no fixed abode, defecated on trains to purge himself of inner voices urging him to stab women and children, a court was told. Damn, that takes the humour out of the story. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/106 "2011-12-29T02:50:05Z")
So, no-one has tried “I don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to be dead”? Pity, I always wanted to know if that worked. Back when I got around by train, I was always armed with a nice thick book. Little shits would have to go nuclear before I noticed them. If they did manage to get my attention, I wouldn’t say a word, just give them this flat, narrow look. If that didn’t work - it always worked - my back plan was to pull out a cigarette. People might look the other way while you get stomped, but no one would put up with that. Where did **Haredye** get banned? S/he was less aggressive than the s-Punk. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/107 "2011-12-29T03:03:44Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > I found him [here](http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/1463644.train_defecator_detained_in_secure_mental_hospital/)with “train shitter”. > > Damn, that takes the humour out of the story. but only one of the four. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/108 "2011-12-29T04:21:33Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Being a Chicagoan, I know what shithole parts of a city can look like. What freaked me the fuck out about sections of SF is the middle of the goddamned street, middle of the day, utterly out in the open drug dealing. A couple of blocks from the high-end hotel I’m in for a conference, I wandered into the Tenderloin and boom, drug deals. I can’t think of anywhere you’d see that in Chicago so near the everyday/tourist/business district section. HAHAHAAHA might i remind you how close Cabrini Green was to the Magnificent Mile?? One should be careful about the stones you chuck.. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/109 "2011-12-29T04:25:12Z")
> [@j666](#): > > So, no-one has tried “I don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to be dead”? Pity, I always wanted to know if that worked. I don’t like to lie to bullies… 😃 > [@](#): > > Where did **Haredye** get banned? S/he was less aggressive than the s-Punk. Based on a guess from what is on ATMB, apparently s/he was a sock. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/110 "2011-12-29T04:43:13Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > I don’t like to lie to bullies… 😃 > > Based on a guess from what is on ATMB, apparently s/he was a sock. Ah, thanks … ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/111 "2011-12-29T10:37:49Z")
Let’s face it. If you’re going to poop on a train, you might as well make it a big one. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/112 "2011-12-29T12:15:58Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > HAHAHAAHA might i remind you how close Cabrini Green was to the Magnificent Mile?? One should be careful about the stones you chuck.. It’s not **that** close. And I never saw blatant drug dealing/soliciting for customers in the open in broad daylight. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/113 "2011-12-29T15:22:16Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > It’s not **that** close. And I never saw blatant drug dealing/soliciting for customers in the open in broad daylight. Seriously Ferret Herder… You’re talking to an ex Chicago Housing Authority officer.. We use to make open air drug buys right in front of Green street building and then walk to the Water Tower and have lunch.. Not to mention the open air drug dealing on Howard street the Jamaicans were running through the 90’s.. Right by Rogers Park.. and Evanston. Too bad I couldn’t have taken you on a ride along.. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/114 "2011-12-29T15:46:39Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > Seriously Ferret Herder… You’re talking to an ex Chicago Housing Authority officer.. We use to make open air drug buys right in front of Green street building and then walk to the Water Tower and have lunch.. > > Not to mention the open air drug dealing on Howard street the Jamaicans were running through the 90’s.. Right by Rogers Park.. and Evanston. Too bad I couldn’t have taken you on a ride along.. I’m not doubting anything you’re saying, but I saw more shit go down in a 15-minute walk through San Francisco’s Tenderloin at noon than I saw in numerous visits to the neighborhood around Rosa’s around midnight. San Fran may not be as rough as some cities, but it wears it’s rough patches on its sleeve much more openly than most. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/115 "2011-12-29T15:53:33Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I’m not doubting anything you’re saying, but I saw more shit go down in a 15-minute walk through San Francisco’s Tenderloin at noon than I saw in numerous visits to the neighborhood around Rosa’s around midnight. San Fran may not be as rough as some cities, but it wears it’s rough patches on its sleeve much more openly than most. Exactly, especially your last sentence. I’ve walked through parts of Chicago with burned-out shells of buildings, boarded-up houses, and people watching me pass like they were wondering WTF I was doing there (frankly, I was wondering the same thing), but damn, the Tenderloin in the middle of the day made me want to get the hell out of there much more desperately than anything I’ve seen in Chicago. And I agree with whoever commented on the sheer number of homeless that are visible in SF as well. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/116 "2011-12-29T17:27:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Fighting words are illegal in most if not all states. What does this have to do with anything? ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/117 "2011-12-30T02:38:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What does this have to do with anything? Because the largest of the little shits offered to fight the guy who told them to knock it off. (“You want to go?” is a challenge to fight.) Last I heard, Washington state has a consent to battery law. If someone says “You think you can take me? Then bring it!” that’s consent, and if he subsequently gets his ass kicked it’s not a criminal offense. I assume there are limits to what degree of violence is covered, and obviously if the other party didn’t consent any damage to him still qualifies as assault. My impression is that it’s intended to let stupid people who pick fights get what they deserve without anyone incurring an unnecessarily harsh criminal record. They can still be charged with stupidity in public or the local equivalent. My sources are old, though, so check up on this before laying into anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/118 "2011-12-30T02:52:59Z")
> [@FlyByNight512](#): > > Because the largest of the little shits offered to fight the guy who told them to knock it off. (“You want to go?” is a challenge to fight.) > > Last I heard, Washington state has a consent to battery law. If someone says “You think you can take me? Then bring it!” that’s consent, and if he subsequently gets his ass kicked it’s not a criminal offense. I assume there are limits to what degree of violence is covered, and obviously if the other party didn’t consent any damage to him still qualifies as assault. My impression is that it’s intended to let stupid people who pick fights get what they deserve without anyone incurring an unnecessarily harsh criminal record. They can still be charged with stupidity in public or the local equivalent. > > My sources are old, though, so check up on this before laying into anyone. I would have to see a citation. Generally speaking, “consent to battery” applies to things such as surgery and contact sports, not to being beaten up just because you were behaving obnoxiously. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/119 "2011-12-30T04:39:17Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You can cite that then, can’t you? 'Cause I resubscribed to the Post approximately one minute after I got back in town, and I watch the local news on Channel 4 almost every night, and I’ve seen nothing in or on the news that gang crimes are going up. I, too, would like evidence of this mysteriously unreported rise in gang activity. I do know that there was a spike a few years ago in Asian gang-related violence, but that seems to have disappeared. I worked in community corrections in the early 90s, and about half of my caseload were gang members, and that was the midst of the uptick in violence. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404/120 "2011-12-30T15:09:31Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > And I agree with whoever commented on the sheer number of homeless that are visible in SF as well. That was me. I love San Francisco a lot (really) but there are parts of it that were shitholes. The homeless issue was bad enough when I lived there but the part that made it scary for me was that a lot were genuinely mentally ill in a scary fashion. This thread is odd because it’s as if people are implying only one place can have shitholes: “San Francisco has shithole parts of town” “oh yeah? Then about Chicago, hmmm?” Just about every major city in the US has areas I’d classify as shitholes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-shits-on-a-train/607404.md?page=7)