The Chav Epidemic

NB Where needed I have translated slang words so that everyone can understand the article.

I am lucky enough to work in one of the hottest fast food establishments in my hometown. Every Wednesday I trot in through the tradesman's entrance after football training at 4.40 pm, strap on my apron and prepare myself for the onslaught of hungry customers, slavering for their "cod and chips twice". Most people I serve are honest, normal folk who are on the way home from a hard day at work and just can't be bothered to cook. Others are old folk who are looking forward to their weekly treat, some are long time regulars who can just pop their head in the door, shout "my usual", go to the supermarket up the road and then come back with the food ready for them in an instant.
I like these people. They endeavour to give you the correct money, are never rude, and politely point out mistakes if you have made them (which I do regularly). Unfortunately for me though, these people seem to stop coming in after about 7.30pm, at which time, the real fun begins.
BMXs are parked outside the shop (mopeds if the owner is old enough). Baseball cap peaks are turned up. Hoods are pulled over hair. Fags are stubbed out. White tracksuit tops and counterfit gold jewellery blind me in the harsh spotlight turned towards them over my head. Yes indeed, the chavs are back, and they're going to run the place for the next three hours.
For the unenlightened, chavs are a subcultural stereotype of a person with fashions such as flashy "bling" jewellery and counterfeit designer clothes, an uneducated, impoverished background, a tendency to congregate around places such as fast-food outlets or other shopping areas, and a culture of antisocial behaviour (taken from Wikipedia). There are many things I can say about the way chavs behave when they're in the shop, but the thing that really makes me laugh is this. We sell sachets of tomato sauce for ten pence, and tiny 200ml cups of orange juice for twenty pence. By buying one of these when they first enter the store, the chavs think they are entitled to spend the entire night bashing the living hell out of our fruit machines, pouring pound coin after pound coin into the machine in the vain hope that it will pay out. When it does, I am forced to give away precious five pound notes in exchange for greasy handfuls of five pound coins, to such an extent where I can't shut the cash register, and at the end of the night I take home pocketfuls of pound coins for wages because there are no notes left.
They come and go like diarrhoea, coming in and out of the shop whenever they please, never shutting the door and always being rude to staff. They fight, they swear, they spit, they leave rubbish around the place (which muggins here inevitably has to clear up) and, probably most important of all, they scare potential business off. At any given time there can be a gang of them outside smoking, shouting and spitting, or they can be inside, hogging the fruit machines. If you fancied a quick chip buttie, would you brave walking through that crowd? Nope,didn't think you would.
The reason I am writing this article is because of our beloved Prime Minister's plans to stamp out anti social behaviour such as this by launcing a new "Respect" campaign - "Give respect, get respect" being the tagline. Don't get me wrong, I don't know much about politics. I vote Liberal because I like orange. But I know one thing for sure: Mr Blair is not going to persuade delinquents like this to change their lifestyle now. It's too late for that. Yobs like these respect nobody, especially people in positions of authority such as Mr Blair. They believe what they are doing is a correct way to behave and nobody is going to stop them behaving this way. Not me, not the Prime Minister, not anybody. I hate them because they are giving my generation a bad name. Most of us are perfectly normal teenagers who are well behaved in public. We study hard to make sure we have got better futures, and one day we will provide a new generation that hopefully will carry on our good intentions. But the world's view of teenagers will always be a bad one as long as the chavs keep acting the way they are. And, as far as I can see, they're going to be part of our lives for a long while yet.

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