“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!”
• You’ll Have a Gay Old Time
• Welcome our 2nd “Looks Like Beirut” Convert

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.

[...]

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.

[...]

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!”
• Why Cant People Wait for the Investigation?

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

“Looks Like Beirut” Convert #5

I received an email yesterday from Jamie Macaskill, Assistant Editor at Mail News & Media Ltd – they are responsible for the article, “Woodcock Street as Once Notorious ‘Little Beirut’ Transformed”, which I prepared a “Looks Like Beirut” Certificate for. I think its safe to say that opinions may have been changed:

Dear Jad,

Many thanks for your letter regarding our recent coverage of a new housing development which attracted your attention. I’m delighted our readership now extends to the Middle East.

I would also thank you for your good humoured “award” which I have passed to the newsdesk. The point you make is a valid one and is duly noted. Perhaps one day we can organise a cultural exchange between our two fine cities, both of which are badly maligned by the ignorance of others. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4136342.stm)

Keep it up.

Kind regards

Jamie Macaskill
Assistant Editor

The link in the email above is to an article which describes Hull as the “worst place to live in the UK”. Personally, I believe you can find the “worst place to live” in any city in the world if you look hard enough. Its great to see that our plight to rid the world of “looks like Beirut” comments is shared with others who also face the same type of ignorance.

Check out these great posts:

• “Woodcock Street as Once Notorious ‘Little Beirut’ Transformed”
• “You Go Out Sometimes and it’s like Beirut in Town.”
• “It’s Like Living in Beirut!”

“Is this Beirut” A Strabane Resident Asks

Unless this anonymous resident was aboard Gulf Air 042 on Tuesday night, it is unlikely that he has ever stepped foot in Beirut:

A taxi driver has been shot in both legs after being attacked and dragged from his car in Strabane.

[...]

Strabane councillor Gerard Foley, who works with the victim, said the attackers had “done their homework”.

[...]

“A man asked me last night ‘Is this Beirut, because there seems to be nothing round here but shootings?’”

Yeah, blame the comment on some anonymous man. OK, so we have the occasional gunfights which are apparently capable of striking a commercial jet flying at 37,000 feet (to put the rumor to rest, no, a stray bullet originating from a gunfight in Beirut’s southern suburbs did not hit the Gulf Air flight which had just cleared Cyprus and was heading towards Tripoli).

Gerard Foley, I’ve determined, as Strabane’s councilor and as the person who heard someone else use the “looks like Beirut” phrase, it would be best that you receive the certificate.

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