So... My sister is marrying a traveller

[chaosyoshimage]

Its shocking to see all of the prejudice against a culture I didn't know still existed. "They steal from shops!" Gee, that sounds familiar. Keep your eyes on'em! They are crafty, I tell yins'.

"Oh, I know, lets hire someone to follow them around the store when one comes in!" =D

Frankly, I find the concept fascinating, and romantic. I would love to be one.

I know right? While I wouldn't want to live my life like that, the concept of travelling around like that does have a sort of timeless romanticism to it. Maybe I'm just some kind of hipster that wants to backpack around Europe or something...

Anyway, yeah, I knew about Roma, but I didn't know they were still around in this form. Guess it's because I'm American, and a lot of this complaining does sound like the kind of thing I hear about Mexicans. But, I'm entirely ignorant of the matter.

Also, count me in the group that after reading the title of the thread, thought, "like someone that travels the world searching for adventure, cool!"

 

[Loop Stricken]

what the shit? there really are gypsies? ive never seen one. that seems like the lamest predudice ever tho.

A prejudice concerning people parking their caravans on any open piece of grassland, squatting there fouling the place up with their illeducated abusive little shits they call children, stealing from the local area and paying no heed to the law?

That's not prejudice, that's common sense. Nobody wants to put up with a fieldful of arseholes.
They occasionally squat on several pieces of parkland near my house. All kinds of trouble.

 

[CleverCover]

I read that as "So...My sister is marrying a time traveller"

I had to reread it more than once, to read it properly.

I admit, I swore it was this, like your sister was a time traveler's wife.
I was really excited for a second before reality set in.

Dang.

 

[Necrofudge]

To be honest, all I know about gypsies I learned from watching Snatch.

...And with that in mind, I think they're awesome and has your sister's fiance considered boxing?

 

[Loop Stricken]

To be honest, all I know about gypsies I learned from watching Snatch.

...And with that in mind, I think they're awesome and has your sister's fiance considered boxing?

An' duz zhe loik dags?

 

[Macgyvercas]

Can't say I know much about gypsies (American over here), but everything I have heard hasn't been very pleasent. Still, until I meet one, I won't pass judgement.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

My latest experience with the travelling community was last week when a couple of young lads hanging around outside on my street sprayed fire at me with a Lynx can and lighter, for shits and giggles. They were doing it to everyone who walked past and no-one would tell them off because they'd be brutally beaten and they knew it.

This was nothing compared to the stuff I saw them do in my old job. It's hard to remain un-prejudiced sometimes when all you see is negatives.

 

[Mister Eff]

Yeah, I've never had a nice experience with Irish travellers. Pretty much entirely violent, angry and obnoxious from who I've met. One threatened to stab me with broken glass because I didn't have any cigarettes on me. He spent the rest of the night coming over to our group and trying to arm wrestle everyone while swearing at us and generally being a dick (while treating the women like garbage and getting lairy because they wouldn't go home with him, just because he told them to). That was a fun night down my local. And that's only the most recent experience. There's a camp somewhere near my village (I haven't cared to go looking for it) apparently containing some pikey royalty of some sort. I don't know if that's self proclaimed pikey royalty or if it's legit, either way, I won't be sorry to see them go.

Anyways, I hope your sister and niece are happy and treated well.

 

[jthm]

So she's continuing the line of uneducated, theiving people who refuse to conform to the surrounding society and thing laws and regulations don't concern them? Oh joy

Quick story related - my dad when he was a pest controller was called to a travellers site since it was swimming in rats. Second the van doors opened the kids stole all the equipment. Eventually the equipment was returned after explaining they came to help but after that no pest control company would help them and they got to live with their rats

Also remember a news story recently where a traveller community built houses without any planning permission on owned land and when told they had to leave since they broke the law they went up in arms about it, even though they knew it was against the law and they didn't care. /facepalm

I can tolerate people acting/believing differently. But people who don't teach their kids morals and don't give a shit about the people they are imposing on? *cocks gun*

Damn... I love what you hate about them. That sounds sensible to me. "That land is owned." No, it's undeveloped and no one is doing anything with it. I'm setting up a house. What a great attitude. Own the land you're on. No person is better than another person just because they have money enough to "buy" the land.

I'm not so wild about the violence towards others that everyone keeps putting up as a common experience, though I imagine that a lot of that has developed in response to violence directed at them by people who "own" the land they were living on.

Of course I'm an American, so I'm probably romanticizing the lifestyle a bit. I deal with a fair number of crack heads, indigents and thieves in my daily life and I detest them. A lot of these complaints posted here have that in common with the lowest element of American Society too, so chances are I wouldn't have such a rosy outlook if I were to meet a community of travelers. Still though, that attitude towards land "fuck your claim, I'm the one standing on it." is appealing.

 

[Kaymish]

to be honest every thing i have seen of travellers has been bad and all the experiences i have had with them have been negative from what i have seen many modern advances have not taken hold in traveller communities things like Abolitionism [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-14871318] or women's rights where the women basically marry into slavery

additionally i had some friends in the south of France and a bunch of gypsies decided to mug me when i went to visit and they even had the audacity to rob my car while i was talking with some one in a cafe just up the street

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I've just never understood why, as travellers, there always seems to be so much trouble when they're asked to move along, by the police. Surely as travellers, they'd want to move

Seriously tho, it sure doesn't appear like they try to help out their image too much. Seems a lot of people have had personal bad experiences rather than just hearsay, and recently a group of actual slaves were freed from a traveller's site, they'd been captured while homeless, and kept in a tiny cage, and fed almost nothing and made to work and regularly beaten.

Personally I found it pretty shocking to find evidence of actual slavery going on locally.

Now I'm not saying all travellers do this stuff. In today's society however, you can't just do what you want and ignore other people's wishes and the laws of the land and expect to welcomed.

This is coming from someone who regularly ends up taking the immigrant's side in conversations with Daily Mail readers, too.

 

[bader0]

so when when i read the title it basically sounded in my brain like your sister was marrying doctor who.
OT i live in australia and dont know what a traveller is ;input=0

 

[bader0]

I respect what you are saying, but I personally feel that many people tie them with the same brush.

tie them with the same brush?!?!?!?! you sir are a gentleman and a scholar

 

[dantoddd]

Pardon my ignorance, but how are they planning on making a living.

 

[Idsertian]

In answer to OP:

All my experiences are bad. Lemme list the sort of things that the ones I've seen got up to:

Abandoned one of their dogs on a temporary footbridge over a busy dual carriageway in Ireland. (The N7 to be precise, one of the main carriageways in and out of Dublin County and City) Upon rescuing said dog, we discovered the poor thing would bolt his food and flinched as soon as anyone moved to pet him, sure signs that he was poorly fed and regularly hit. Didn't affect his temperament though, sweet dog.

Consistently leaving huge messes in the forms of piles of rubbish and broken white goods.

Attempted to steal the horse of the guy I worked for at the time. I was the one who scared them off. Pretty sure they tried it more than once.

Stole some plant pots that my mother had recently bought and was planning to use.

Stole the pure-breed Rottweiller (that spelled right?) that one of my neighbours (same guy I worked for) had rescued from his owner after she died. Landlord at the time called the Gardaí (Irish police); and successfully got him back though.

So yeah, I will permanently distrust Pikeys and view them with suspicion wherever they turn up.

 

[Aprilgold]

So she's continuing the line of uneducated, theiving people who refuse to conform to the surrounding society and thing laws and regulations don't concern them? Oh joy

Quick story related - my dad when he was a pest controller was called to a travellers site since it was swimming in rats. Second the van doors opened the kids stole all the equipment. Eventually the equipment was returned after explaining they came to help but after that no pest control company would help them and they got to live with their rats

Also remember a news story recently where a traveller community built houses without any planning permission on owned land and when told they had to leave since they broke the law they went up in arms about it, even though they knew it was against the law and they didn't care. /facepalm

I can tolerate people acting/believing differently. But people who don't teach their kids morals and don't give a shit about the people they are imposing on? *cocks gun*

*Brandishes English broad-sword.*
....
Oh what? Ah yes, well, from what I read, there is nothing good about them, I don't think we have some in the States, but I always got my gold Broadsword, it likes souls, AND KIBBLE!

From what I read, they will make people form into their ranks, so that means, also, having a good guy go in means you will have him come out differently, I think there was something in greek mythology to where if you jump down this hole, you can save 1 soul, but you will come out very weak, sorta like that, except for violent and hateful towards women *DIDN'T say they are hitting their woman, only very RUDE towards them* and the same goes for your daughter in law.
A good guy goes in, a hateful spite goes out, at least from what I know.

I don't know one, after pages of seeing how they react to normal society, I honestly don't want to.

Now, could we stop with Traveller and Gypsie being used, shes marrying a GYPSIE, traveller is someone traveling.

 

[Loop Stricken]

*Brandishes English broad-sword.*
....
Oh what? Ah yes, well, from what I read, there is nothing good about them, I don't think we have some in the States, but I always got my gold Broadsword, it likes souls, AND KIBBLE!

But but... gold is a terrible material for swords! Any true English blacksmith would know this!

One way or another, you got ripped off. I bet it was one of them pikey smiths...

 

[joshthor]

what the shit? there really are gypsies? ive never seen one. that seems like the lamest predudice ever tho.

A prejudice concerning people parking their caravans on any open piece of grassland, squatting there fouling the place up with their illeducated abusive little shits they call children, stealing from the local area and paying no heed to the law?

That's not prejudice, that's common sense. Nobody wants to put up with a fieldful of arseholes.
They occasionally squat on several pieces of parkland near my house. All kinds of trouble.

ah. theives are a bummer. i get it. still. never met any, so i have no first hand experiance. i like to imagine they are in old fashioned covered wagons in torn up pilgrim clothes.

 

[Atomic Skull]

The first stole my dads car in plain daylight, when we called the police they assaulted the policeman who sustained several bite wounds and then torched the car.

In america they would never get away with that. The SWAT team would be called out and an attitude adjustment would be administered. If you assualt a cop in the US and they have to call for backup, the backup is bringing an ass-kicking with them.