I have just returned from my first visit to the fascinating and beautiful Riga. While there, I read a letter from one of your contributors regarding the disgraceful behavior of British youths (stag parties, I suspect).
As an Englishman, I find it depressing in the extreme that some of our young people find it necessary to blacken the name of their country abroad. I work almost daily as an interpreter with young Latvians (and Lithuanians) in England and find them charming, hard-working and refreshingly full of fun.
For the sake of balance, however, I must say that large numbers of them regularly drive cars on our roads after climbing outside of huge quantities of vodka and cider. They seldom have driving licenses and almost never have insurance. People are sometimes injured, property often damaged.
Our police do not ignore it. They send them to court, where they receive a driving ban and a fine, both of which they ignore. They seem to regard the tolerance and even-handedness of our police and legal system as a joke. Repeat offenders sometimes spend a short time in jail, which they seem to enjoy!
Waving ones private parts at passers-by is indeed deplorable, but seldom lethal.
Peter
