On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:10am Localist wrote:
I long for the old Lewes, the Lewes I first knew 25 years ago. Today I had the misfortune of using the new Post Office. With 12 people in the que and only one counter assistant, she was thoroughly miserable and disinterested with not a word of manners. I went round the back towards Laura Ashley and politely informed someone waiting there that they would get a ticket, I was told to mind my own business. I went to Waitrose and had an equally miserable checkout assistant. I tried to park my car, and was violently abused for trying to get into a space which I thought was ok, but was told to 'get the f*** out of the town with your stupid big car'. When I did find a space, I asked the neighbouring car if he had enough space to get out and was met with 'of course I f*****g have, or ill just bash yours on the way out'.
I went to Fillers and had a nice cup of tea and chat with the lovely people there. Calm has resumed.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:26am Mattie wrote:
Thats modern life in Britain today, the kids love it !!
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:31am El residente wrote:
Well, in 15 years of living here I have never had any experiences like that. Has it crossed your mind you might be either very unlucky or more likely you are some kind of busy body.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:32am Ed Can Do wrote:
Ah yes, the good old days, when the windows of the Lamb were all boarded up, you could buy pretty much any drugs you wanted in the back bar of the Rainbow and the furniture in the Volly was nailed to the floor to stop the punters hitting each other with it...
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:39am Tango wrote:
You sure it's not just you localist? Never had any problems.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:42am The Greek wrote:
To be honest, people who drive 4x4s in town have it coming.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:56am 25 years ...... wrote:
I knew Lewes from 1965 ( at school ) and during the 70's (working for Davey+ Son for a time) And I knew the squatters, The Rainbow etc. Happy, stoned days.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:57am old bike wrote:
Casual racism seems to be more acceptable now than at any point in the last 25 years. These are the good old days.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 11:58am Pedro wrote:
I can't remember experiencing anything negative like that here in several years of living here, nor from the London suburb I DFL'ed from in the previous decade. I think I may only antagonise people on forums then, rather than in real life where I'm clearly respectable, approachable and lovable 
I wasn't around though in Lewes in 1992 to be fair, to have witnessed the utopia it was before god-knows-when the arbitrary cut-off date was when modern life and progress irked people, and fake nostalgia made today look terribly bleak by comparison.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 12:01pm sifter wrote:
Stop moaning.We ve got our country back.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 12:09pm The Old Mayor wrote:
Not quite yet sifter !
On 14 Feb 2017 at 12:20pm Pedro wrote:
Yep, we won't "have our country" back for a few years at least as we await an amazing special deal from those evil dictators in the Goldman Sachs neo liberal project that is the EU....and an even better deal from our american heroes who definitely don't have a protectionist clown president. Then we can celebrate our massive freedom from bendy bananas and get that 1992 feeling back again (when unemployment was about double what it is today) and plenty of other things we take for granted today.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 12:34pm Pedant wrote:
Localist - Yes, I queued at the 'post office' today too and it's dire. But ust one thing: when you say 'disinterested' you mean 'uninterested'. Disinterested is what a judge or a referee is supposed to be. Uninterested is what the poer bored counter clerk was.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 12:51pm Nevillman wrote:
Sounds to me like you're having a bad day or a troll. Service in shops is on the whole better than it ever was. I remember very long queues in the post office in the past when people were paying bills, getting licences etc. Casual racism is far less socially acceptable than it ever was. I do agree over the parking. Cars bring out the worst in people and increased prosperity means there are more cars than ever but most people are nice and try to be considerate. You were unlucky and must not let it make you a worse person.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 1:13pm Localist wrote:
All interesting responses. Especially from those justifying violent abuse, and telling me that 'I have it coming', for the crime of going about my own business. I would suggest on the basis of those comments alone, I am not having a bad day, and my opinion is bang on the money.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 1:23pm Pedro wrote:
@ Localist. you really think unpleasant, gobby, people did not exist in 1992? Could it be that the nasty ones were too busy in 1992 burglarising houses or stealing cars (both crime rates now well under half of what they were back then)?
On 14 Feb 2017 at 1:31pm The Greek wrote:
Sorry, I didn't mean to condone violent abuse and I don't. But 4x4s have no place in a town. They are too large to see around at junctions, too large to fit in a parking bay properly, way more polluting, often diesel so worse for air quality and are way more dangerous to pedestrians. Leave the 4x4s in the fields or to the Americans please.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 1:41pm Bob wrote:
@Localist, wrong time of the month?
On 14 Feb 2017 at 1:58pm The people wrote:
Our towns are blighted by the bigger vehicles and their owners are generally very self interested when parking. As to Lewes and its retail outlets, generally staff are ok. Yes, there are some indifferent staff, but a lot can be down to how you are with them. Only lived in Lewes for 45 years but have seen so many more new comers being indifferent to what Lewes stands for. Our heritage is our strenght our people are transient, only here for a few years, so in 30/40 years time Lewes will endure and will "not be druv". So let's all me more positive with our fellow peoples.......
On 14 Feb 2017 at 2:06pm Meta Anna Liszt wrote:
So do you feel better or worse for having shared your experience?
It's an honest question because I am interested in the effects of sharing or " over-sharing" on the individuals mental health.
Is it therapeutic or does it exacerbate the negative feelings?
Interesting how it generated a lot of quick replies.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 2:36pm Cynic wrote:
Obvious troll.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 3:39pm Old Malling wrote:
Doesn't sound like the same Lewes that I live in. You don't mean Lewes Delaware do you?
And Ed Can Do - you brought back some very happy (but best forgotten) memories!
On 14 Feb 2017 at 3:39pm The Greek wrote:
Bonfire is what makes Lewes great.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 3:51pm New to lewes wrote:
The people, You are so right on several counts.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 4:13pm Ageing Savage wrote:
They were great days Ed!!! Glad you enjoyed them too !!!
The gentrification of the town has sanitised the pubs to a level below boredom. Plus now any malarkey gets you banned from them all.
In a different note road rage didn't really exist in the eighties so note all bad
On 14 Feb 2017 at 4:34pm Well I'll be wrote:
burglarized, I'd rather be burgled by a gentleman burglar. Or even entertained by the Hamburglar .
On 14 Feb 2017 at 7:07pm Bored wrote:
@The Greek, Lewes is a county town, surrounded by Downs and farmland, 4x4's are a necessity for many of the surrounding folk.
On 14 Feb 2017 at 8:27pm Over 30 raver wrote:
Clever trolling. Or just a bad outlook on life
On 14 Feb 2017 at 8:52pm Shocked wrote:
I just have to say I had just parked in town earlier when a 4x4 parked next to me and diagonally over the line at the back corner, I was sitting in my car muttering to myself when the driver came round to inspect their "parking". When they saw me sitting in my car they enquired if they had left me enough room, even a blind cretin could see they clearly hadn't. I did comment back something along the lines of "I'll squeeze out the gap but don't blame me if I accidentally bash your car", they got back in it and moved to another spot!
On 14 Feb 2017 at 9:54pm Over 30 raver wrote:
@shocked I. Would so love your post to be true. Amazing how we alter our perception of a situation to suite our agenda
On 15 Feb 2017 at 10:19am Observer wrote:
"Lewes is a county town, surrounded by Downs and farmland, 4x4's are a necessity for many of the surrounding folk."
I don't see that many battered, mud-splattered Defenders parked in Lewes. What I do see is lots of immaculate, polished SUVs which I presume are owned by an overcoiffured blonde woman in a big house near Barcombe who just HAS to own one otherwise the neighbours might, for one minute, think she's not rich and successful.
On 15 Feb 2017 at 10:40am Observer wrote:
Plus, old fashioned defender style 4x4s are not particularly wide. Modern SUVs are far too wide for most car parking spaces.
On 15 Feb 2017 at 11:02am Pedro wrote:
It probably doesn't help that there is a Range Rover dealership in town.
On 15 Feb 2017 at 11:42am The Greek wrote:
@observer Hey don't be presumptuous about Barcombe. The surrounding countryside maybe.
On 15 Feb 2017 at 1:34pm Observer wrote:
"near Barcombe"
On 15 Feb 2017 at 1:56pm Uptown Monk wrote:
This is easily the friendliest, most considerate town I have lived in. Nothing like this has ever happened to me.
On 15 Feb 2017 at 1:58pm Localist wrote:
The size of the parking spaces are determined by the council are they not?. I guess a pressure group could lobby the council to reduce them further and perhaps introduce a penalty tariff for those of us who dare to exercise our free will and drive a car that seems to offend others so much. I am pretty sure all those living in the outlying and rural communities would be only too happy to take their business elsewhere, somewhere they are not abused, demonised and vilified. On the subject of pollution, my 4x4 is a hybrid and I can guarantee it pollutes a fraction of the amount that many so called green cars do, and certainly a lot less than the majority of beaten up rust buckets that trundle around town.