Why do you keep asking me if I'm okay?'
'Just want to be sure you're all right. You've had a shitty day.'
'I have but I'm okay,' she says, her voice a little edgy and tense.
'Fine,' I grumble, overreacting, 'sorry I asked.'
'Oh come on, don't be like that…'
'Be like what? I only asked if you were okay, that's all.'
I sit down next to her. She stretches out her arm behind me and begins to gently rub my back.
'Sorry.'
'Doesn't matter.'
Same old rubbish on TV. I pick up the remote and work my way through the channels. The comedies aren't funny tonight and the dramas are too dramatic. Nothing seems to suit the mood. I head for the news. I want to find out more about what's been going on. Apart from hearing the odd snippet of information at work today this is the first chance I've had all day to catch up. What we see is more of what we saw yesterday - more trouble and more violence. What we don't get is any explanation. Each individual report seems to follow a pretty standard format - one or more incidents take place in a particular area and they report how people react to the fall-out. This is insane. I keep hearing phrases like 'copycat violence' and 'revenge attacks' being banded around. Are people really as stupid as Harry tried to suggest yesterday? Would anyone really want to start trouble just because they've seen others doing it?
'Look at that,' Lizzie says as we stare at the headlines together, 'they're even giving them a name now. How's that going to help?'
She's right. I heard the word used a few minutes earlier but didn't think anything of it. The minority who are causing the trouble have been branded 'Haters'. It came from a tabloid newspaper headline that was published this morning and it's quickly stuck. It seems appropriate because there's still no mention of these people fighting for any cause or reason. Hate seems to be just about the only thing driving them.
'They have to give them a name,' I mumble. 'It makes it easier for them to talk about it if they give them a name.'
Lizzie shakes her head in disbelief.
'I don't understand any of this.'
'Nor me.'
'They're talking about it like it's an epidemic. How can it be? It's not a disease, for Christ's sake.'
'It might be.'
'I doubt it. But there has to be a reason for all of it, doesn't there?'
She's right, but like everyone else I have no idea what that reason might be so I don't bother answering. Watching the news makes me feel increasingly uneasy. It's making me feel like shutting the front door and not opening it again until all of this sudden violence and disruption has stopped. I instinctively start trying to come up with an explanation to try and make myself feel better if nothing else.
'Maybe it's not as bad as they're making it out to be,' I suggest.
'What?'
'They always exaggerate things on the TV, don't they? They've just been saying something about an increase in the number of violent incidents being reported, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's been any increase in the number of incidents actually taking place, does it?'
'Not necessarily,' she says, sounding unsure.
'There might have been just as many fights as last week, but they weren't newsworthy then. Problem is when something like this makes the headlines people start jumping on the bandwagon.'
'What are you saying?'
'Maybe this whole situation is something the TV and newspapers have created,' I say. I'm making this up as I'm going along.
'It can't be. Something's definitely happening out there. There are too many coincidences for…'
'Okay,' I interrupt, 'but if they haven't created the problem they're definitely making it worse.'
'What about what happened at the concert on Friday? And in the pub? And whatever was going on with that
'Just want to be sure you're all right. You've had a shitty day.'
'I have but I'm okay,' she says, her voice a little edgy and tense.
'Fine,' I grumble, overreacting, 'sorry I asked.'
'Oh come on, don't be like that…'
'Be like what? I only asked if you were okay, that's all.'
I sit down next to her. She stretches out her arm behind me and begins to gently rub my back.
'Sorry.'
'Doesn't matter.'
Same old rubbish on TV. I pick up the remote and work my way through the channels. The comedies aren't funny tonight and the dramas are too dramatic. Nothing seems to suit the mood. I head for the news. I want to find out more about what's been going on. Apart from hearing the odd snippet of information at work today this is the first chance I've had all day to catch up. What we see is more of what we saw yesterday - more trouble and more violence. What we don't get is any explanation. Each individual report seems to follow a pretty standard format - one or more incidents take place in a particular area and they report how people react to the fall-out. This is insane. I keep hearing phrases like 'copycat violence' and 'revenge attacks' being banded around. Are people really as stupid as Harry tried to suggest yesterday? Would anyone really want to start trouble just because they've seen others doing it?
'Look at that,' Lizzie says as we stare at the headlines together, 'they're even giving them a name now. How's that going to help?'
She's right. I heard the word used a few minutes earlier but didn't think anything of it. The minority who are causing the trouble have been branded 'Haters'. It came from a tabloid newspaper headline that was published this morning and it's quickly stuck. It seems appropriate because there's still no mention of these people fighting for any cause or reason. Hate seems to be just about the only thing driving them.
'They have to give them a name,' I mumble. 'It makes it easier for them to talk about it if they give them a name.'
Lizzie shakes her head in disbelief.
'I don't understand any of this.'
'Nor me.'
'They're talking about it like it's an epidemic. How can it be? It's not a disease, for Christ's sake.'
'It might be.'
'I doubt it. But there has to be a reason for all of it, doesn't there?'
She's right, but like everyone else I have no idea what that reason might be so I don't bother answering. Watching the news makes me feel increasingly uneasy. It's making me feel like shutting the front door and not opening it again until all of this sudden violence and disruption has stopped. I instinctively start trying to come up with an explanation to try and make myself feel better if nothing else.
'Maybe it's not as bad as they're making it out to be,' I suggest.
'What?'
'They always exaggerate things on the TV, don't they? They've just been saying something about an increase in the number of violent incidents being reported, but that doesn't necessarily mean there's been any increase in the number of incidents actually taking place, does it?'
'Not necessarily,' she says, sounding unsure.
'There might have been just as many fights as last week, but they weren't newsworthy then. Problem is when something like this makes the headlines people start jumping on the bandwagon.'
'What are you saying?'
'Maybe this whole situation is something the TV and newspapers have created,' I say. I'm making this up as I'm going along.
'It can't be. Something's definitely happening out there. There are too many coincidences for…'
'Okay,' I interrupt, 'but if they haven't created the problem they're definitely making it worse.'
'What about what happened at the concert on Friday? And in the pub? And whatever was going on with that
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