How do you get treated by model shops.

Without further details of the study, the information on this webpage is completely useless.

How were they selected?

Was it a representative sample (of the popultaion as a whole or of shoplifters)?

So it's obviously a survey only of shoplifters. Otherwise, if it represents the population as a whole, it implies almost half of *all* kids start stealing between ages 11 and 13.

As such, I don't understand the point you are trying to make.

MBQ

In my everyday experience as a criminal psychiatrist that figure is about right.

That a great many kids are thieving bastards which is why my local model shop is locked-up like Fort Knox every night, the model railway stuff is kept upstairs out of sight and out of reach. If the shopkeeper thought it was safe to put the stuff on open display I'm pretty certain he would because his business is suffering as a result.

(kim)

As old as that? A lot of younger ones are used by older kids/adults as under 10 they are very unlikely to be nicked....

Where I work even if its bolted down.....

As a Scout leader I've seen "good" kids (those held up as examples to others, usually sporting stars in their year) that are amoungst the worst for nicking other peoples stuff, equally the poor/bad ones that wouldn't dream of doing so.

Um, so you are hardly using a valid sample of people. How about if this survey included the age group as a whole? How about if it had been analysed by mathematicians, rather than GNVQ Advanced Business students? How about all age groups?

As an example, a survey at my old school, allegedly the second biggest in .uk, would have found that pretty much the entire population of Britain live within about 10 miles of where they were born, almost no-one did GNVQs, and they were welcome in their local model railway shop.

It always worries me that people will treat kids as "thieving little bastards", then be surprised when they respond in kind. These people then wonder why young people might not want to be associated with (say) railway modellers, who are busy demonstrating that modellers are unfriendly, bigots who aren't very good with statistics.

"Arthur Figgis" wrote

I have to say that we have a tendency to view kids we do not know with suspicion and we generally will only allow them into the shop unaccompanied in 'ones'. I'm not happy about this, but past experience suggests it does have an impact of the amount of stuff we have stolen.

John.

As model Shops are like 'Rocking Horse Manure' where I live I rely on the 'on line' shops Hatton's & Rails of Sheffield who I find excellent. The other week I need some spares for a couple of loco's I was converting to DCC and contacted Hornby. They put me on to 'Model Spares' of Burnley email snipped-for-privacy@btconnect.com The proprietor was most knowledgeable and extremely helpful. The items arrived by return post and were spot on. I can recommend this 'shop' to the group. Chris Warcup

Modelspares seem to have stopped advertising in Model Rail and there were announcements that the business was for sale. Has the original owner decided to carry on or has it changed hands and the new owner doesn't advertise?

MBQ

I'm glad to say my friends and I never had any problems at all with your shop When I Were A Lad. Had we been treated as "theiving little bastards" rather than customers, the short term effect would have been a flow of pocket money towards Ferensway, the longer term effect would be that I wouldn't still be interested in model trains!

Almost but not quite as bad as US coffee....... Beowulf

In message , Beowulf writes

Have you tasted US tea? And don't get me started on US beer! ...

Hmm, I know that the fees charged by some psychiatrists are daylight robbery, but I find it hard to believe that you really are a criminal, Kim.

That would be the technical term commonly used in the psychiatric profession?

Cheers, Steve

That would depend on whether they've just been robbed or not :o)

Besides which I'm one the few who actually lives in a criminal neighbourhood:-

"Jane Sullivan" wrote

For some reason US beer (well Bud anyway) seems to have developed quite a following in the UK, but the kids that drink it were brought up on British pee-water (lager) and have probably never tasted proper beer in their lives.

John.

"Jane Sullivan" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@yddraiggoch.demon.co.uk...

Well I've drunk swedish ta and stopped..... I still claim that the Boston tea party was an american attempt to brew

In message , John Turner writes

The people who work for my organization and who drink Budweiser drink the proper stuff, also known as Cesky Budvar (sorry, can't do the accents here), which I am told tastes infinitely better. Even the Yanks tell me that. I wouldn't know, as I don't drink beer of any type.

Yep, there is a big difference between 'normal' budweiser and budvaar, the latter being infinitely better! Got a case recently from some visiting germans who brought it across as 'duty free', put it in the fridge just long enough to cool - then it disappeared! Badger.

The message from "Badger" contains these words:

It evaporates when it reaches the correct degree of coolth, so I'm told.

What I _haven't_ been told is how the empty bottles get behind the settee.

I can tell you as a Brit living in the US, that US beer is like having sex in a small boat!

Its fu#$ing close to water!!! Rob

"Rob Kemp" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

Anchor Steam Beer isnt too bad :) Beowulf