So the ridiculous stream of recent riots has finally toppled into the skateboarding world – Ideal in Birmingham was broken into and trashed by rioters/looters over the last couple of days. If anything, this says more about the kind of disgusting individuals responsible for the majority of this trouble – they’re kids who have no idea who they’re rioting against, and are just after more free stuff (as if their parent’s dole money isn’t enough?). 

Independent retailers (especially those who run skater owned shops) have done nothing wrong and are going to be suffering for months after this has blown over. Considering the original reasoning for these riots was a reaction to the way police treat youths, I can’t see how breaking into a skateshop and stealing hundreds of pounds worth of skateboarding equipment is protesting against that. When asked why they were rioting and looting, 2 girls stated they were showing the government and police they “can do what they want” and that they attacked shops because they’re owned by “rich people”. I can tell you right now, that the guys at Ideal are honest, hard-working guys who are doing what they love just to try and make ends meet. They’re just trying to make a living and pay the bills, and now they’ve been stopped from doing that because of a bunch of arrogant shits with no idea what they’re talking about decide independent businesses are, somehow, the enemy.

I sincerely hope Bob, Zippy and all at Ideal get back on their feet as soon as possible, and that whoever’s responsible for this gets swift, harsh punishment. This whole situation is escalating to the point that people are fighting back; you’ve got people defending themselves en masse in London, and sales of aluminium baseball bats have increased by 6000%, there’s even a Flickr account from the Police force that’s designed to catch looters. If these kids continue with causing hell and destroying the lives of so many people, they’re bound to run into fully grown adults who are fully capable of taking the law into their own hands and helping the police put this to an end. Scary times, indeed.