“You Go Out Sometimes and it’s like Beirut in Town.”

That’s how emergency care practitioner William Berkley describes the regular scene of drunks Brits on the streets of Plymouth hitting, falling and fighting with each other:

By 1.30am the police cells are almost full and the city centre’s ‘field hospital’ is busy dealing with the fallout from Union Street. The nightclub strip is usually quiet in the early hours of a Monday morning, but bank holiday drinking means an upsurge in crime and injuries. Ambulance staff and police use the Shekinah Mission, on Bath Street behind the Pavilions, as a base to help deal with people at the scene.

[...]

The emergency services juggle resources around fights breaking out as bars close, head injuries from assaults and drunken falls, and criminal damage. Staff on duty say people drinking all day on bank holiday has a “massive impact” on crime and health — as well as hitting the public purse due to a need for extra resources.

[...]

William worries resources are taken away from people in need. [...] “There are sometimes genuinely poorly patients who have to be held back, they have to wait, because you go out sometimes and it’s like Beirut in town.”

I would have said that something like, “it looks like a circus is in town”. Unless William believes we wear red rubber noses or he’s taking about the band, I really have no idea what he is trying to describe. Nevertheless, a looks like Beirut certificate will be dispatched.

Check out these great posts:

• “It’s Like Living in Beirut!”
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“Kabul is the new Beirut”

Well, its not really a “Looks Like Beirut” as characterized by destruction but rather the literal meaning of “looks like Beirut” in an article from The Guardian titled Getting drunk in Kabul bars? Pass the sick bag:

“Kabul is the new Beirut.” This frivolous drivel fell from the mouth of a journalist in Afghanistan. She was effervescent with excitement about the prospect of Kabul’s expatriate bars being even more hip than those in Beirut. Beirut – where they dance to the beat of the bombs, where alcohol flows freely and women are freer still. Yay! Kabul has finally left the dark ages and now offers expat bars for journalists and diplomats alike, where alcohol serves as the lubricant for self-congratulatory war stories and chest-beating.

The rest of the article by Seema Jilani is an extended rant of how Western culture is overtaking Afghanistan’s lifestyle.

Check out these great posts:

• You’ll Have a Gay Old Time
• Bollywood, Bars, Beirut
• “You Go Out Sometimes and it’s like Beirut in Town.”

Car Crashing into House Causes Hall to be “a bit like Beirut”

An Opel Astra driver has decided to turn Sue and Len Green’s home on Pump Lane into a drive-through:

Emergency services descended on the quiet village of Wyaston after a woman crashed her car through Sue and Len Green’s front door.

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The car crashed more than 18in inside the front door and a structural engineer from Derbyshire Dales District Council was called out to ensure the property was made safe during the rescue operation, due to a large crack below a bedroom window.

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Mrs Green said:[...] “The hall is a bit like Beirut and the wall has gone, while the ceiling is being held up by a piece of wood.”

The classic Beirut equates to destruction phrase. That’s why I’m here; to show Sue Green the right way portray her thoughts without bad-mouthing our capital.

Check out these great posts:

• “You Go Out Sometimes and it’s like Beirut in Town.”
• “It’s Like Living in Beirut!”
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Glasgow district plagued by car thieves is ‘like Beirut’

SNP councilor Billy McAllister had this to say about the spate of car thefts in the Milton area of Glasgow:

“It’s like Beirut and people are sick and tired of it.

“They have been complaining consistently because they are using it like Brands Hatch up there.

“They cannot get a sleep, it’s not safe to walk the pavements and the neds are even driving into hedges.

“I have requested a meeting with the chief constable and the divisional commander because the whole thing is now beyond a joke.”

Of course councilor McAllister is not the only person to blame for the comment. Paul O’Hare, the journalist behind the article is also at fault as he cleverly starts off his piece by stating:

A district plagued by teenage car thieves has been compared to a Beirut war zone by the local councillor.

I’m thinking two certificates are in order.

Once the thieves have the cars, they take it for a joy ride and upload their adventures on YouTube. That alone should be proof enough that this isn’t Beirut – it would take months to upload a single YouTube video.

Check out these great posts:

• “You Go Out Sometimes and it’s like Beirut in Town.”
• “It’s Like Living in Beirut!”
• We’ve Got a LLB Convert #4

“Lincoln Street a year ago, it was like Beirut”

Once again it seems, a little road maintenance has brought up the “looks like Beirut” comment:

A newly rebuilt section of Lincoln Street on Spokane’s South Hill contains an innovative system for gathering and reusing storm water in Cannon Hill Park.

[...]

The 12-block stretch from 17th to 29th avenues contains a series of “storm gardens” that are filled with small plants and shrubs on what was previously blacktop.

[...]

Lincoln Street was arguably one of the bumpiest arterials in Spokane before the reconstruction, which took $1?million out of a 2004 voter-approved bond issue.

[...]

“Lincoln Street a year ago, it was like Beirut,” [Mike] Taylor, [director of engineering services]  said.

Well Mike, your certificate is on the way.

The recently opened Lincoln Street (Spokane, Washington, USA) which previously "Looked Like Beirut"

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