Maybe I Should Just Quit

Tags

American football, anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, baseball, books, He Was Weird, sports

The LA Dodgers

Often there are times when we all feel this way, that we should just quit. It could be school, a job, a sports team, a band or any number of things. Quitting does often relieve the stress that comes with whatever the quitter is doing at the time. That no longer have to do the thing which was causing hardship in your life can often be a major release. However, while quitting might rid one of the short term stress, it often doesn’t solve the problem and can create more.

The option of quitting something came upon me two days ago. Twice a year, I organize a softball tournament in my hometown where teams from all over Britain come to play. Yes, they do play softball in the UK. For the most part, the tournament was a big success but there was a few issues as well. During the sixteen years I have been running the tournament, there has been very few injuries. This last one, however, was like a combat zone. There were at least six possibly serious injuries, including three people getting hit on the head with a ball and one more in the mouth as well as a very worrying ankle injury. To make matters worse, even though I am a qualified first aider, (I saw my certificate today), I froze when the injuries happened and my Asperger’s kicked in because there were more injuries on this day than all the tournaments going back 16 years combined. Plus, the first aid kit I kept in my car wasn’t there when I needed it. At the tournament’s conclusion, a couple of the umpires expressed their dissatisfaction at the way the injuries were handled and are going to report it to the British Softball Federation. While, I have been told not to worry about that too much it only makes me worry more. After, all I have Asperger’s and things like this play hell with my anxieties.

To further fuel the flames, the following day I received an email from the manager of the venue where the tournaments are held stating that there was a lot of litter left behind. He also made a very good point that the tournament was played by adults so there was no excuse for there to be so much litter after. I have to agree with it but the ultimately, the responsibility lies with me as the organizer. My big worry here is that he might not allow the tournaments at the venue any more and there is no real suitable place in the area to hold it. At best, there is one place but that venue is only capable of putting three diamonds on it as opposed to the four I normally have and teams will be playing on a incline. So, it’s easy to see why I don’t want to lose the venue.

As a result, I have thought of simply falling on my sword and stepping down as the tournament organizer. I even have a logical argument that I can still assist with the tournament in a support role in many ways. Not having to organize and be responsible for it would relieve many anxieties. However, if I was to quit, I don’t think anyone would be willing to take over and the tournaments would end. I also believe that many softball players would be disappointed if the tournament went away, just for the sake of getting to play more softball if nothing else. The main reason that keeps me from simply quitting is because like my post about suicide a few weeks back, I see quitting as taking the coward’s way out. I would be quitting just because a couple of things didn’t go right and not facing those challenges.

At the moment, I don’t intend to step down. Saying that, my anxieties are such that I worry that anyone who knows me through softball who reads this is going to accuse me of trying to get sympathy from everybody. That’s not the case, besides, with my experience, it would probably have the reverse effect and everyone would be telling me to quit. No, the best thing here is to learn from my mistakes and soldier on. I already have ideas for addressing the problems.

Shameless tie in with my book, “He Was Weird:” In the story Mark quits the football team because he doesn’t get to play even when his team wins 24-0. His heart was no longer in the game anyway and like my own experience which this story line is based on, quitting the team leads to further bullying from his former teammates.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539210927&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

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Back From Client Holiday

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, Great Britain, holidays, Minehead

These past few days, I went on a client holiday to Minehead with a service user named Jerry. We went there last year and stayed at the same holiday home. Like last year, things were very laid back and it did give me some inspiration and motivation for writing my next short story.

We were only there two days but we managed to pack a lot into them. We went on the cliff train at Lynmouth and also rode the steam train the entire length this time. Here are some pictures, enjoy.

Lynmouth Harbour from the cliff train.

The fog coming off the hills

The cliff side train.

Watchet Harbour from the steam train.

 

 

 

Help! I’m Self Harming

Tags

anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, bullying, He Was Weird, self-harming

This may be the hardest post I ever write. While some may already be congratulating me for being brave in coming forward to admit I am self-harming, I am wary that it may be brushed aside as many will not consider it serious. In some people’s definition of the term, my self-harming isn’t anything that might cause serious injury. I’m not cutting or burning myself, although the other evening, I did think about slamming my finger in a door. And that brings me to my point, I am self harming.

What I am doing is whenever I make what I call a ‘stupid mistake,’ I respond by punching myself in the head. My logic being I did something stupid, I deserve a punch. When I’m typing on the computer, I slap my hand when I make too many typing mistakes. As for the finger in the door thought, I wanted to do that because I opened a spam email when I wanted to delete it. On the grand scale of things, I know that this isn’t serious to most people nor is it life threatening. However, under the definition, what I am doing is self harm.

Now you may be asking, “Why don’t you just not punch yourself in the head?” I wish it was that easy. The punches to the head usually come from out of nowhere, I’m not actually thinking of doing it, it comes as a reaction from the perceived stupid mistake I just made. What adds more fuel to the fire is that my Asperger’s mind is overloaded because of my mistake and it getting in the way of what I’m trying to accomplish. Therefore, any inward voice telling me not to punch myself is muted. I just simply am not thinking rationally at that second due to mental overload.

Naturally, I want to stop this behaviour, especially as there has been a sharp increase in the number of occurrences in the past year. Some might say I am being ridiculous here but I can’t help thinking that if I continue to self harm in this manner for more years, I will eventually end up like Muhammad Ali. That might be the far extreme but what I do know is that this self-harming isn’t good for me and I need to stop it. Saying just don’t do it doesn’t work. I need some other types of advice to get me to stop.

Shameless plug for “He Was Weird:” When writing the story, I did toy with the idea of making Mark a self-harmer but it didn’t fit into the story. Besides, I didn’t self harm that much when I was younger. Furthermore, in the reality of the time, if Mark did self harm in the story, his bullies would have tormented him more so they could watch him do it.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537212231&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

The Coward’s Way Out

Tags

anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, He Was Weird, labels, mental health, stereotypes, suicide

Today’s title is what many people, sometimes myself included, call suicide. They claim if a person wants to kill themselves, they are taking the coward’s way out. However, I also believe that this is just a lazy label from persons who don’t want to deal with the subject. It is unfair to say that a person who wishes to end it all is simply taking the coward’s way out because no one, other than that person themselves, knows what’s going on in his or her head and that things have become so bad for them that they see there’s no other way out.

I’ve been here myself. The first time was when I was nine and one occasion, I actually did stab myself. Fortunately for me at the time, my sister had brought me a butter knife, which couldn’t do the job properly, actually, not at all. Looking back, my mother and then step father saw the whole thing as funny and told me not to be so stupid by wanting to stab myself. Back then, we’re going back nearly half a century, mental health was something to be embarrassed about, especially in the middle class suburban neighbourhood I was living in at the time. Therefore, I wasn’t given the help I most likely needed.

Over the years since, there have been other times when I thought of or threatened to commit suicide. Looking back at those situations, those were probably cries for help or attempts to elicit sympathy. I got to be careful here because I know that this isn’t the case for everybody. The irony here is that during the three years of bullying hell which inspired me to write “He Was Weird,” I never thought of committing suicide. It could have been that I thought someday, I would move out of that town, which I eventually did. Seeing another way out definitely removes any thoughts of ending it all.

In our millennial year, that all changed. My world came crumbling down all around me in several ways and I believed it was all down to me. I thought that I simply screwed everything up and maybe the world was better off if I wasn’t around to wreck things. Besides, people around me seemed to be getting on fine without me and that gave me even more incentive to end it all. Nobody wanted me around anyway so maybe I should make it that I wasn’t. I had even chosen the method, hooking up a hose to my car’s exhaust and killing myself with carbon monoxide poisoning. Furthermore, I vetoed my idea of having music playing in the car at the time because I didn’t want anyone to say that music caused my suicide. What made me hesitate, however, was my belief that I would be taking the coward’s way out. That hesitation made it possible to get a last minute phone call from the person who I thought had pushed me over the edge and it was that call which brought me back. I don’t think that person ever realized it but they might have actually saved my life.

Not everything was peaches and cream after though. It was a struggle but fortunately, I had a network which provided short term help and sound advice which benefited me greatly. That is why when similar feelings came around again a few years later, I recognized it and that time, I ignored certain stereotypes and put myself into counselling. Probably one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life!

My conclusion from all of this is that while the notion that suicide is taking the coward’s way out might have saved my life, it isn’t a true notion for everyone. Some might argue that a person who wants to take their own life is actually brave by carrying out. That’s not my point. We can’t see into another person’s mind nor truly feel the anguish they might be experiencing at the moment or what events from their past might have contributed to their decision. What everyone needs to be is more supportive and understanding and take mental health much more seriously.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536566786&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Dodgy Tackle: The Conclusion

Tags

books, crime, Great Britain, soccer, sports

A few months later, Andy had settled back into anonymity, glad that his fifteen minutes of fame were well and truly over. He gave little thought to the fact one evening when he met a friend at a pub less than half a mile from White Hart Lane. He and his friend spent several hours in relaxed conversation, downing four pints each over the time. Therefore, he never clocked the five lads sitting in the corner looking over and pointing at him. It was also the reason why he didn’t notice those same men follow him out when he left the pub.

Having gone a few hundred metres and in sight of the tube station, five men caught up to and surrounded him. Seeing he was severely outnumbered, Andy quickly pleaded, “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

The shortest of the five, who was a good seven inches shorter than Andy, retorted, “Oh you got trouble, mate! We know you’re the guy who fouled Felipe Fonsecca.”

“We told you we’d get you,” another one affirmed. “We’re the White Hart Lane Firm.”

Thinking quickly, Andy offered up, “Look, I apologised to Fonsecca and besides, I’ve retired from football.”

“That’s not good enough,” the short one snapped. “You thought you’d be a hero to all the birds because they didn’t want him playing after he shagged some slapper who then cried rape.”

Andy realised that whatever he said would not make any difference to this mob. So, he did the only thing possible; he attacked. Picking out the largest of the five, he landed a right cross on the target’s jaw, knocking him back and temporarily stunning him. Unfortunately that would be his only offensive move because unbeknown to him, one of the other four had secretly readied a lead pipe which he viciously clubbed Andy on the back with sending him forward and giving the others time to surround him and unleash a barrage of punched and kicks. After a few minutes and their victim sufficiently weakened, four of the mob grabbed Andy and held him still so the man with the pipe could smash his kneecap. When that was accomplished, the mob left their prey in a heap on the ground, barely conscious.

He was in hospital for three days before the local police came to interview him about the attack. Andy did his best to tell what happened and confessed that the attack was because of his foul on Fonsecca. One officer seemed sympathetic but his partner commented, “I thought you should have been charged for that tackle.” Andy also mentioned the threats he got from the White Hart Lane Firm. The two officers took everything down and informed him that they would be in touch.

During his five week stay in hospital, the police only returned twice. The first time, they brought their file of known members of the White Hart Lane Firm, which Andy identified the short guy. The second time was to inform him that the short guy had an alibi. He also learned that the police blocked the re-dramatisation of his attack on “Crimewatch” on the grounds that Andy’s notoriety may do more harm than good. That meant that when Andy finally did leave the hospital, there seemed little chance of his attackers ever being brought to justice. He now realised that while he never should have fouled Fonsecca the way he did but he didn’t deserve any of this.

Dodgy Tackle: Part IV

Tags

books, crime, Great Britain, soccer, sports

Nobody said a word when Andy stated that he wouldn’t be joining the team in a comisseration piss up. Instead, he went home and spent a quiet evening at home. It was only out of routine that he turned on “Match of the Day” at 10:45 that night. Besides, he wanted to see how his beloved Liverpool fared in their third round cup match. He was completely unprepared for what was to come on the programme.

After Gary Lineker’s normal introduction of “Some cracking goals and exciting games,” he opened with the match he played in that day. “Tiny Epping Forest Utd were hoping for a giant kill against premiership side Tottenham,” Lineker began. “Let’s pick up the action from White Hart Lane.”

The millions watching the late night football programme got to see Fonsecca’s opening charge down the pitch aided by Lineker’s own commentary: “Fonsecca goes tearing down the pitch past the defense and looks like he’s going to put Spurs up in the very first minute but somehow, the Epping Forest keeper makes a miraculous save.”

It was a tremendous save, fair dues to that goalie,” the Scotsman on the commentary team affirmed.

Footage then skipped to later on in the first half with Lineker explaining, “It’s a very good ball in here and if it wasn’t for Spurs’ defender Ian Jones, getting his head on the ball to redirect it, it could have been disasterous for Spurs.”

Guest analyst Michael Owen described the next bit of footage. “Epping Forest get another great ball in, the striker hits it well and we see that Tottenham keeper Ernst Koernig is clearly beaten on the shot and it’s just unlucky that the shot just goes inches wide of the post.”

After a few replays of the closest Epping Forest Utd would come to scoring, Gary Lineker took back over the commentating. “Here’s Fonsecca, he dummies past one player and then we see another Epping Forest player slide in with this dangerous tackle on him.”

Sitting at home, Andy finally got to see his foul in its full glory. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Fonsecca tumble head over bum and land on the ground writhing in obvious agony. Those few seconds of good feeling were interrupted by the Scotsman who interjected, “This was a gross deliberate foul on Fonsecca. I think this Epping Forest player was deliberately trying to injure Fonsecca here.” The foul was replayed at least eight times and for the first four times, the Scot pointed out, “You can see his leg is at least one foot off the ground and the bottom of his boot connects squarely with Fonsecca’s leg, just above the knee. There’s no doubt in my mind that this was a deliberate foul.”

Watching the remainder of the replays, the rest of the commentary team agreed with him. Michael Owen added after, “I think that with all the controversy surrounding Felipe Fonsecca’s return to football after serving time for rape, the fouler probably thinks he’s going to be some sort of hero.”

The elder statesman on the team, a noted football commentator, stated plainly, “No matter what Fonsecca has done off the pitch, there is no excuse for behaviour like this on it. The football pitch is not the place for vigilante justice.”

Trying to move things along, Gary Lineker commented, “We see the referee here showing the player in question, mid-fielder Andy Treharne, the red card and that sending off set the tone for the rest of the match.”

Andy didn’t know what to think when his picture was displayed to everyone in the country who was watching. He was having his fifteen minutes but wasn’t sure it was in a good way, not as far as the “Match of the Day” commentators were concerned. Andy switched off the television with out waiting for the Liverpool result.

Some unknown force compelled Andy to check his social media when he was wide awake the following Sunday morning. Upon opening his Facebook page, he shocked to see so many people had posted messages on his wall. Many were from ladies congratulating him for doing in the rapist. There were also a good number of men in agreement telling him he had done a great service to football. Of course, there were a few negative comments from angry Spurs supporters. Many called him a dirty player and some of those said he should be banned from football forever. Those didn’t bother him to much until he saw one that really disturbed him. It was from a group calling themselves the ‘White Hart Lane Firm.’ Their post read, “You might have gotten Fonsecca but we will get you. You’re a dead man!”

Thoughts about death threats against him didn’t last long. A knock at the door saw to that. He opened the door to a sight that made his jaw practically hit the ground. His girlfriend, who he hadn’t spoken to in two weeks following a row, was there with her long blonde hair hanging down. Her long brown coat was open to reveal a short, tight, blue dress. All he could do was stare.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asked.

Andy dithered for a further moment before opening the door wider and granting his visitor entry. She wasted no time in revealing her motivation for being there holding up a copy of a Sunday tabloid showing him the back page. The big headline read, “Unknown Vigilante Gets Fonsecca!” Underneath was the picture of his now infamous tackle. “My friend says you’re a hero among women and my father thinks you deserve a knighthood,” she declared.

“Oh thanks,” was all he could say. He didn’t need to say anymore. His girlfriend melted into his arms with the promise of reconciliation. It at least took his mind off the previous day’s match for the rest of the Sunday.

Dodgy Tackle Part 2

Tags

books, crime, Great Britain, rape, soccer, sports

For the players of non-league Epping Forest Utd, the Fonsecca story even filtered into their celebrations of having defeated League One side Port Vale 2-0 in the second round of the FA Cup. “He is a disgrace to football!” exclaimed the team’s captain with most of the team nodding in agreement.

“If it had been one of us, do you think they would have let us back into football so easily?” queried midfielder Andy Treharne.

The entire team also nodded in agreement with the man whom the Epping Forest team considered a key player. After all, it had been Treharne’s play that helped secure the stunning victory. Throughout the match, he thwarted every attempt by Port Vale’s midfield to get the ball up front to create any chances. Then it was his perfect pass that the led to the first goal for his side. Then, in a fairy tale ending, his cracking shot from twenty-two yards out ensured that his team would be progressing to the third round of the tournament. His performance and that of the rest of the team was enough to put talk of football playing rapists out of mind as the celebrations lasted well into the night.

Mixed feelings of wonder and astonishment, along with the fear that the small club had bitten off more than they could chew surfaced when it was announced that Epping Forest Utd would be playing Premiership side Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup. The sports media immediately began running stories of a David and Goliath battle. The Spurs manager stated that his team would take this match as seriously as they took all of their matches while the Forest manager humbly stated what a great opportunity this was going to be and he was hoping for a bigger giant kill. All that Andy Treharne could think about was whether Felipe Fonsecca would be playing for Spurs that day.

Fonsecca’s return sparked all of the contraversy everyone expected. Many women boycotted Spurs matches home and away. Opposing fans jeered him at away matches with chants of “rapist” and “criminal.” These acts only seemed to motivate him more as he scored three goals in his first five matches with his old club. In interviews, he thanked Tottenham management and supporters as well as the people of Great Britain for giving him a second chance. His demeanour, however, came across as arrogant. It was though he was sticking two fingers at the people of Britain and especially the woman he raped. It made Andy feel sick to his stomach.

Everyone with any sort of attachment to Epping Forest Utd, from players, to management and fans, all agreed that the FA Cup tie with Tottenham was going to be the biggest match in the team’s history. The atmosphere around their tiny ground reflected it. At home matches, the stands were full to capacity as newly found supporters came to cheer them on. In the weeks running up to the big tie, Epping Forest won three matches and drew one, climbing to the top of their division. There were even posters around the town wishing their team victory.

In the final days before the big match, the minnows focused their attention on the task ahead. Manager Steve Drury made sure that his troops were mentally prepared for the chance at history but this couldn’t keep the sour taste out of Andy’s mouth when it was confirmed that Fonsecca was going to be in the Spurs line up that day. He felt it was just wrong that the criminal would be on the same pitch as him and confirming in his mind everything that was wrong with football at the highest levels.

There were other distractions during the days leading up to the game but they were more pleasant ones. Normally empty stands at training sessions were now filled with well wishers wanting to see the team that was going up against Spurs. After training sessions, Andy and the rest of the team, found themselves signing autographs and posing for selfies with their new followers. Posters appeared in the windows of local businesses cheering the team on. Even at his own job in the City of London, fellow members of his firm wished him luck. All of this should have taken his mind off of Felipe Fonsecca.

I’m Sharing an Old Short Story With You- Dodgy Tackle Part 1

Tags

books, crime, rape, soccer

Since I have received quite a lot of positive feedback when I posted my most recent short story from my upcoming novel here, I thought I would share a past story from a few years back. This story called “Dodgy Tackle” was inspired by the Ched Evans affair. Evans was an British footballer who was convicted of rape and released after serving his sentence.

Dodgy Tackle

Many people throughout the UK, even those who couldn’t care less about football, were disgusted with the decision by top London club Tottenham Hotspur to allow convicted rapist Felipe Fonsecca to return to his old club after just serving two years in prison for the rape of an eighteen year old girl. There were strong outcries from women’s groups and many of the papers agreed with their sentiments. In fact, many people in the UK thought that the Spanish international should be sent back to his own country. Feelings were running very strong.

Fonsecca arrived in the UK five years prior at the age of twenty-one where he established himself on the pitch, scoring eighteen goals for the club in his first season. His continued great play the following season earned him a spot on Spain’s national team and Spurs fans were quick to forgive him when he scored the game winner against England in a friendly.

It was his performances off the pitch that gave some people concern. Rumours abounded of him acting inappropriately towards women and he was thrown out of a West End club for touching a young lady’s bottom. Furthermore, Fonsecca had a fiery temper as well, getting into a few drink filled altercations at a few night spots. One of these landed him in court and getting a £500 fine when he hit a man over the head with a bottle when the man confronted him over making a lewd comment about his girlfriend. While some remarked that Fonsecca had gotten off too lightly, little was said about it and as long as he kept kicking balls into the back of opposing team’s nets, no one was going to.

The rape, on the other hand, couldn’t be so easily ignored. Too many people saw Fonsecca approach the victim who was too drunk to agree to anything. The saw him guide the girl into a dark alley only for him to emerge triumphantly a few moments later. A good number of witnesses heard him boasting to his friends about how he gave her one. Fortunately, a good number also saw the girl come out of the alleyway moments later after Fonsecca had gone. The young lady was clearly looking distressed. Her tights were ripped and she was sobbing very heavily and holding her pants in her hand. Seeing the state she was in, a good Samaritan gave assistance and called the police.

Felipe Fonsecca was arrested and charged with rape. At his trial and in spite of his celebrity status and his barrister’s attempts to make the victim look like a cheap slut, he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. The evidence against him had been irrefutable. This did not stop his army of supporters ceaselessly campaigning to clear his name during his incarceration.

That wasn’t the worst of things, at least not for the victim. Someone discovered her identity and leaked it onto social media. The result was a savage hate campaign against her calling her a liar and a tart. In the end, she was forced to move far away and change her name, which made her a victim a second time around.

Now released on probation after just serving half of his prison term, Fonsecca was free to continue his football career. Tottenham management played the “everyone deserves a second chance” card but only Tottenham fans bought that one. Women’s groups were still up in arms and started an online petition to the club not to sign him. Others argued that he could continue his career back in Spain but the club ignored all of these and welcomed him back. Many opinions were being expressed and the topic wasn’t going to go away very quickly.

Maybe All Religions Should Follow the Mormons Example

Tags

Americans, Book of Mormon, books, christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, films, Great Britain, intolerance, islam, Mormons, religion, South Park, television

Baby Jesus as a sausage roll

The above picture appeared in a UK newspaper just before Christmas last year. It was an ad for the firm Gregg’s who sell pastry products on the High Streets of most cities and towns in the country. As a result, some Christian groups were up in arms because they said that the picture insults Christianity. When asked if they were making a big deal over nothing, their response was, “Other religions wouldn’t have tolerated it if the insult had been directed at their religion.”

What they were talking about is Islam. Over the past few years we have seen Islamic attacks in Paris and Denmark which have resulted in death because some Muslims had taken offense at cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed or another aspect of their religion. While some Christian leaders and politicians have said that Muslims shouldn’t cry “foul” over everything and I see their point, other Christian groups have used it to take offense over anything they see that might “insult” Christianity. Does everybody see the dangerous circle this might lead to?

Religious persons taking offense at something they see which might insult their religion is nothing new. My first experience of this was back when I was nine. In 1970, I loved to watch a comedy programme called “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.” I mentioned this to a friend whose family were staunch Catholics. Sadly, my friend stated that he wasn’t allowed to watch the programme because his parents said it made fun of the Catholic religion. While it could be said that the parents might have gone a bit over the top, it could also be said that they did the right thing by simply not allowing their children to watch it. I don’t remember any outcries from the Catholic Church to ban the show or any death threats against anyone in connection with it.

Roll on nine years later when a film came out which many Christians cried foul at. I am talking about Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.” Christian groups in both the US and UK protested against the film coming to their local cinemas and one local council in the UK banned it totally. Even the minister at my local church told the congregation not to go see the film. The thing was, I already had and I saw nothing blasphemous in the film. True, Jesus gives his sermon on the mount early in the film but scene focuses more on people standing at the back who might have had problems hearing him. Remember, there were no PA systems back in 31 A.D. The film also poked fun at the religious fanaticism of the Jewish Pharisees but I don’t remember hearing any cryings of foul from the Hebrew faith at the time. What I found most amusing and accurate was how it poked fun at left wing groups. In the film it was the Judean People’s Front or was it The People’s Front of Judea. Either way, while these groups had the same cause, they didn’t like each other.

A full decade later, another film got up the noses of Christians in both my birth and adopted countries to the point there were threats of bombing any cinema showing the film. This film was “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a film by Martin Scorcese, which is an alternative look at the life of Jesus. I never saw the film all the way through and I’ll get to why in a minute but apparently, there’s a scene when Jesus is on the cross, he has a fantasy about having sex with Mary Magdalene. I don’t know because when I saw the film, I only watched up til his baptism by John the Baptist. After that, I switched it off, not because of any perceived blasphemous content, I turned it off because I thought the movie was a complete pile of crap. Furthermore, I bet if there hadn’t been such an uproar over the film by Christian groups, then ten people world wide might have gone to the cinema to see it.

Shortly after the furor over “The Last Temptation of Christ” the first account I know of Muslims taking offense came about. The book, “The Satanic Verses” by Salmon Rushdie caused a lot of stir with Muslims stating that the book blasphemed the Prophet Mohammed and was an affront to Islam. Death threats were made against the author who had to go into hiding for his own protection.

A few years ago, the creators of the TV show South Park, wrote a play called “The Book of Mormon.” The play is about two Mormon missionaries in Uganda and it does poke fun at some of the core beliefs of the LDS faith. While the church’s response to the play was ‘measured’ and I don’t doubt that individual members might have taken offense to it, there were no death threats or cryings of “blasphemy” from Salt Lake City. In fact, one of the leading general authorities of the church when asked about it responded, “Hey, it’s free publicity for the church.” The church even bought advertising space when the play was on Broadway.

This leads me to my point. Maybe all faiths, Christian, Muslim, Thor worshiper etc. should follow the example of the Mormons. Things would be better if those who follow religion don’t seek to take offense at things said about their faith, especially if it was meant as a joke. Develop a sense of humour and maybe there might not be so much spouting of hate from religious groups. 

One final point: There is an episode of South Park where a Mormon family moves into the town. The young son tries to be friends with one of the main characters, Stan. However, Stan is all caught up in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and tries to prove it’s not divinely inspired. Yes, the show comically makes the point that the story behind the origin of The Book of Mormon might be dodgy but they make a very good point at the end. In the final scene the Mormon boy says to Stan, “So what if Joseph Smith made it all up, The Book of Mormon gives me guidelines to live by and it makes me happy. All I wanted to do was be your friend but you couldn’t see past my religion. Stan, you have a lot of growing up to do.”

The point here is to not judge people by their religion or be quick to take offense at any perceived blasphemies against their own. The world would be a better place.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1532371935&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

 

 

Self Defense 2-You Provoked Him, The Final Part

Tags

books, bullying, crime, Great Britain, MMA, sports

Hopes were high in her mind that she had made the promenade along the seafront in Brighton safe for vulnerable people when Rochelle drove to Brighton the following week. That no gangs of youths would be there to harass anyone. As she parked her van outside of the chip shop, she had a glance across the road and seeing no menacing gangs, felt assured that she had made things safe for everybody. Therefore, she disembarked and began unloading the van.

“Excuse me miss,” a female voice called out from behind Rochelle.

She turned around to see two female police officers standing in front of her. The shorter blonde officer had asked the question while her taller, about the same height as Rochelle and dark haired colleague stood looking serious. Even though Rochelle could guess why the two officers were there, she still asked them, “Can I help you?”

The taller officer then spoke, “Do you come to this area every “Wednesday?”

“Yes, I make deliveries to this chip shop,” Rochelle confirmed pointing over her shoulder with her thumb.

The taller officer’s expression grew more serious, almost grim. “Were you involved in an incident involving some youths across the road?” She was pointing to the spot where Rochelle had confronted the gang.

Not wanting to trap herself, she carefully explained, “I did stop a gang of thugs from harassing and older couple and who had been also harassing a vulnerable young man.”

“In that case, we are arresting you on suspicion of assault and causing grievous bodily harm.”

A sudden sense of the surreal swept over her as Rochelle got into the back of the police car. “Surely, they know that this is a mistake,” she thought to herself and clung tightly to the hope that the officers would see sense. This surreal sense continued while she was questioned at the station. The two officers seemed to be totally deaf to her insistence she was acting in self-defence. When Rochelle told her account of what she told the boy who had pulled a knife on her, the shorter, blonde officer seized the chance and retorted, “It sounds like you goaded him into attacking you.”

“He had a knife on me! I was trying to get him to put the knife away and leave those old people alone,” Rochelle explained trying to hold back her anger at the apparent ignorance of the two officers. “What would you have done if they had pulled a knife on you?”

“It doesn’t matter what we would have done,” the taller officer interjected. “We have twelve statements from witnesses saying that you were clearly goading that young man into going for you. That you did so by insulting his masculinity. You might not have thrown the first punch but you wanted him to do so in order that you could show off your martial arts skills. Besides, we know who you are now, Rochelle Dibley or should we say ‘Rocket’ Rochelle Dibley, undefeated professional MMA fighter. You wanted to show these kids how tough you were.”  

“No! I just wanted to stop those yobs from harassing innocent and vulnerable people. I phoned you twice to report was going on. If you had done your job, I wouldn’t have had to!”

She regretted saying the last bit even before the taller officer came back with, “So, you decided to take the law into your own hands.”

“I just wanted to help them,” was on the tip of Rochelle’s tongue but she drew it back, fearing that if she had said that, it would have landed her in more trouble. It would not have mattered much because right after, the two officers instructed her to wait while they left the room. After three quarters of an hour on her own, the two officers returned with a larger male officer, obviously a superior. With his rugby player like build and greying beard, cut very short, the officer stood across the table from Rochelle as if he was an animal displaying his dominance.

“You’re not from around here,” he began. When Rochelle nodded, he continued, “You don’t know the boy you assaulted, he’s the son of one of Brighton’s leading city councillors. You don’t realise how much trouble you could really be in. Fortunately for you, the parents aren’t pressing charges. Besides, the boy thinks it cool that he got knocked out by a professional cage fighter. If we did prosecute you, we’re afraid you would be made out to be some sort of hero in the eyes of the media and your chosen profession. We would be made to look like the bad guys and the Brighton Police does not need that sort of negative publicity. However, us not charging you comes with one condition, you don’t ever come back to Brighton.”

“What about my job?” was all she could think about.

“Well, I’m afraid that it’s a case of your job or you facing prison time. If you are seen in Brighton, you will be arrested.”

Although she felt the whole thing was a cover up, Rochelle felt that she had no other choice than to agree to the terms. The trip home seemed even longer and she was just glad that her final delivery of the day accepted her explanation of being so late was down to traffic in Brighton. The entire time she was extremely worried over how the whole affair was going to affect her.

Things took a fortunate turn for Rochelle when she told her boss about what had happened in Brighton. The boss did not want to lose a good delivery driver and he liked the fact that he had a ‘celebrity’ working for him. Furthermore, he said he was getting a little stir crazy in the office so he thought a trip one day out along the coast would be a good break. Therefore, he happily took over Rochelle’s Wednesday delivery route while she stayed in the office to do administrative duties.

Upon his return from his first Wednesday deliveries, the boss informed Rochelle, “It’s good you didn’t go to Brighton, there was police car parked by that chip shop and they were watching me. They left after ten minutes. They were probably just making sure it wasn’t you.”

Rochelle shrugged, “It’s great the police can spare a car to watch in case I came back to Brighton but they couldn’t spare any to stop those yobs harassing people.”

Eventually, thoughts about her experience in Brighton began to dim although they would never completely vanish. One positive was those thoughts spurred her on at her next fight, she knocked her opponent out in ninety seconds.

Six weeks later, returning from his delivery to Brighton, the boss relayed an observation from his trip. “I saw a gang of kids on the sea front promenade, yobbos or what? They threw a disabled man off of his mobility scooter and took turns joyriding on it while the man lay there. It was disgusting, I should have called the police.”

“They wouldn’t have come,” Rochelle consoled him.  “And if you tried to do anything yourself, it would have been you being arrested.”  

The boss nodded in agreement, nothing would have been done.