"This is a fair request, and I promise I will not judge any person only as a teenager, as you will constantly remind yourself that some of my generation judges people by their race, their belief, or the color of their skin, and this is no more right than saying all teenagers are drunken dope-addicts or glue-sniffers." - Victor Lundberg, Letter to my Son. I got home from work today to find that my brother had been assaulted. He had been assaulted by an old man in a supermarket. He was not badly hurt, but he was seriously pissed off. This is what happened. Paul is a very good Inline Skater, and had been practising hard at the local skate ramp. Obviously, such strenuous exercise increases the need for sustenance and so he and his friend skated down to the Lidl Discount supermarket in Bilton, one of the districts of Rugby, our home town. There they removed their skates and entered the store. Now, Paul is a lot like me. He and I are very alike in terms of humour. So while he was browsing the store he found something that made him laugh. He saw a toy gnome thing carrying a skateboard. He was laughing to his friend and saying how fucking shit they were, and then continued to browse the store, chuckling to himself. It was then that he felt a tap on his shoulder. "What did you just say?" Said an old man, looking 50 or 60 years old at least. "I said that those are fucking shit." Said Paul, still grinning. It was then that the old man took a swing and punched mny brother square in the face. This was too much for him. He never laid a finger on the old man, but he sure as hell made him know he wasn't fucking happy. I wouldn't have had so much control I don't think - I'd have gone fucking postal on the old twat, or knocked him down and pissed on his face, but hey. Let me stress: at no point during the entire debacle did my brother touch the old man. Eventually the manager turns up. "This guy just hit me in the face," Paul says to the manager. And so what happens? Security come along and ESCORT MY BROTHER FROM THE STORE, telling him that he is not welcome there anymore. Now where the fuck is the sense in that? Lets just recap. My brother, who is 18 years old, cracks a joke about some lame-ass toy (to the best of my knowledge still entirely fucking legal in this country). Some old guy takes offence and punches him in the face (And that, my friends, is assault. If there's any bruising it counts as ABH (Actual Bodily Harm) as well. My brother lets the shit fly from his mouth, but never uses any physical violence against the evil old man. along comes the manager and kicks my brother out but lets the man continue shopping. Does anyone else see some fucking age discrimination here? Assess situation: old man.... must be innocent. teenager... ALERT! ALERT! DANGER WILL ROBINSON! The biggest joke is this: On the front of the storeis a sign that says "Lidl has security guards to make you safer." Well, I sure as hell feel safe knowing that they evict the victims of physical assaults but let the assailant continue shopping, ready to blow a gasket on the next kid that makes a typical teenage comment. Anyway. My brother waited out in the parking lot for the old man. Did he ambush him? No. He sat, and he watched. And he watched the old man approach his car. And then My brother wrote downb the vehicle registration number. And he went home. And he called the police. They'll be arriving later tonight to ask questions, but personally I doubt if anything will happen. Because this attitude is present among most people today. Teenagers are scum. Old people must be right. "Respect your elders" no longer applies for me. It's "Don't respect an arsehole." So what's next? Well, my brother is taking the story to a local newspaper. If that fails, I have the raddest plan ever. I find this guy's name, and I make a poster campaign in the town : Mr. [insert name here] Assaults youngsters. Perhaps it is petty personal vindication, but I'm sick to fucking death of people judging other people based on their age. It makes absolutely no fucking difference how old you are. An arsehole is still an arsehole.