West Brom

I had to go into West Brom a couple of times last week and on one occasion I sat in the car on the High St for about twenty minutes waiting for my wife who was shopping in M&S for less. I know I could park in Astle Centre car park but when you can park on the High St. for free why pay?
West Brom is quite a cosmopolitan town with a lot of colourful characters. I was parked by the betting shop which appears to be the busiest place in the town! Well certainly in the late afternoon it is. An amusement arcade is a couple of shops away and that seemed to be doing a lot of business. I mention all this because on the face of it nothing much different to any other High St. I suppose. It is the behaviour of the residents that changed things for me. We have a fair mix of Afro Caribbean blacks, Asians and white European. Difficult without asking them their ethnic origins but they all seem have similar bad habits. I was shocked to see how many people still smoked and stubbed out their cigies on the pavement. With the amount of propaganda these days about the dangers of smoking you would think they would know better. The other habit which I found most offensive was spitting. I suspect that some of it was chewing gum judging by the whit blobs stuck to the pavement but a lot of it was just spittle. Not only is this distasteful but I suspect unhealthy for others especially as we are facing a flu pandemic. I was quite frankly ashamed of my fellow citizens. The Victor Meldrew in me was getting near the surface when the wife arrived. Which is perhaps for the better. Could we perhaps have the wardens patrol the High St on a Friday afternoon? That ought to net a few quid in on the spot fines.
The High St. is a pig sty and needs clearing up.