Any wonder knife crime is so high?

I am absolutely outraged by a news story I have just read. A 15 year old boy has purchased a machete over the Internet, and what's more is that it only cost £1.50. Isn't it awful to think that someones life can be taken away by a cheap piece of metal?

This lad was testing underage sales for trading standards, so there is no concern in this case over the purchased machete (just to clear that up!). The story is here.

Knives should not be available to buy over the Internet...full stop. If you need a knife for the kitchen, you go to the shops. And of course, people are going to complain if that measure is put in to place: "Oh but I live in the middle of nowhere", "I don't have time to go to shops" etc. So what, you are willing to let people keep dying because 12 year-olds can but a knife on the Internet, for those reasons?

I shudder when I walk past knives in a supermarket. They are horrible looking things, and so commonly used as weapons. At what point are the Government going to take serious measures on knife crime? All the things they are trying to do are not working, clearly. It is hard to find a day where the news headlines do not include the words "stabbed to death".

Having said this, I have to be fair. There are measure taken in shops to prevent knives being bought by youths. I was asked for ID in TJ Hughes once...I was buying household cutlery. Just for the record, I was 21! Embarrassing...yes!

What really grinds my gears

I love that episode of Family Guy!

I'll tell you one thing that I hate, and that's people that laugh at stuff that isn't even remotely funny. For example, I was on a train yesterday from Holyhead to Chester and two girls got on at some point. They were of school age. Now, I don't know if it's just me, but I was getting so irritated that they just wouldn't stop laughing at what appeared to be nothing. Every time they looked at one another it seemed they were bursting into a false laughter that only "the popular ones" can do and get away with.

Maybe I am a cynical old witch (at this tender age of 21!) but for goodness sake, if you're going to laugh, make it for a reason. I thank you!

This is one of many things that irritates me about school kids. I know I was one only a few years ago, and I knew people like that, but I for one was never like that. I didn't laugh just because it was cool, I didn't play music off my phone, I didn't smirk at adults...maybe then I was a geek!

When I have kids, they will watch 80's cartoons, dress in the least scenester way possible, have normal hair, and if they act with the above manners, they will be sent to bed for two weeks with only milk and a biscuit!

Thugz 'n' Yobz- What Would You Do?

I live in usually quiet Chester. Nothing much really goes wrong. It's a bit noisy at 3am sometimes when the alcohol has been flowing, but apart from that, everything flows quite well.

So when I heard loud noises just before 1am the other day, I was concerned. I was too afraid to look out of the window, so I was not sure what was going on. It sounded as though someone was being kicked or punched several times, and there was a lot of shouting.

I really didn't know what to do. As my boyfriend reached for the phone, the noises got less, and the shouting was quieter. Probably, the right thing to do would have been to call the police. Everything ran through my head: "What if someone's been stabbed?", "What if someone's lying on the floor and needs help?".

Unfortunately, these thoughts were mixed with the worry that if we did call for assistance, would the police come to our house, and make it obvious that we called them? It shouldn't have crossed my mind, but it did. I am one of those people who would love to help others, and feel a duty to if they are in trouble, but I am also over ruled by the though of someone seeking revenge.

This is wrong, I know, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm also sure I'm not the only one who heard the commotion on that night, and nobody else called for help.

Last night, I found out that someone was going around the streets banging on people's doors. My housemate said that he heard people banging on doors the previous night, so the two incidents could have been related. After hearing this, I spent the night with the door locked, and the light on. I was genuinely afraid that someone would bang the door down, and come into my room.

This is wrong. As much as I am wrong to not call the police, it cannot be as wrong as terrorising people in their own home. What would you do in the above situations?