Via Mr Muldoon in the comments, a grimly educational tale from the Windy City:

Ah, a quality human being. Would make a mother proud.

But wait, there’s more.

Injuries including nine broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae. Still, at least an offer of help.

And then two more participants joined the drama.

Valuables, lest there be doubt. Things that could be taken.

Always an indicator of good intentions.

Mr Nelson and his charming lady friend were later apprehended, following some indignant yelling of profanity, and both were charged with unlawful vehicular invasion, burglary, and unlawful possession of credit cards.

However,

At which point, I’m going to share the words pit and hot concrete for no reason whatsoever.

As illustrated here many times, there are people, generally of a progressive leaning, who struggle to conceive of just how degenerate the degenerate can be. People who somehow remain clueless – one might say wilfully impervious – to the psychology and motives in play, as expressed, often vividly, by the criminals themselves.

And yet, there are creatures walking among us, in significant numbers, for whom the words human being would be a merely technical term and inaptly flattering.

Update, via the comments:

I’ve previously mentioned the evening, on an unlit country road, when the Other Half and I hit a drunk walking obliviously in the middle of the road.

After taking the chap to hospital, what lingered in the mind  – other than learning that he was known to hospital staff and had been in several similar accidents – was an exchange during our reporting of the accident to the police. We were told that we’d “done the right thing” and that “not everyone would.”

I remember being taken aback and trying to imagine hitting someone with a car and just leaving them, with a broken arm, sprawled at the side of the road. As if that were a thing one might do.

And before you ask, no, it didn’t occur to me to start rummaging through his pockets for stuff we could steal while he was dazed and in shock.

By all means consider this an open thread.

Or, Burly Chap Bit Chilly:

For the life of me, I don’t see why everyone just can’t accept that this is a woman, with a woman’s rights. pic.twitter.com/Ws1H13aWFj

— Gay Not Queer (@Gaynotqueer1) September 28, 2026

Attention, ladies. You may now beckon him into your changing rooms and gush with feelings of sisterhood.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Or, Scenes From Modern Britain, a possible series:

We’re trialling a calm space at Ealing Broadway station for four weeks 💙

From today, you’ll find a quieter space for customers who may benefit from a calmer environment during their journey.

What we learn from the trial will help us understand how we can make our network… pic.twitter.com/mRFiD2vtvM

— TfL (@TfL) September 4, 2026

The purpose of the magnificent facility seen above, a “compact sensory support space” sited at Ealing Broadway station, is to “make public transport in London fairer, safer, more inclusive”:

“The aim of the pod,” we’re told, “is to provide… a dedicated, low-stimulation space where customers can pause and take a moment away from some of the noise and activity of the station.”

And what’s more,

Which possibly hints at the actual uses to which said pod will most likely be put.

The possibility that any emotional fatigue among passengers may be due to particular kinds of “noise and activity” – say, increasingly routine aberrant behaviour and public indecency – does not appear to have been pondered.

Needless to say, a lively thread ensues.

Update, via the comments:

Mags adds,

A sentiment echoed by Malc,

One could, I think, argue that if TfL directed their efforts to more obvious targets, then the weirdly small calming huts might not be felt necessary.

One might even view the creation of glorified dog kennels for stressed commuters as a kind of displacement activity, a symptom of a broader malaise. A way to not look directly at the actual problem. Which might entail all kinds of other inklings.

It seems likely that if passengers are feeling unnerved or unsafe, and in need of momentary calm, that may have quite a lot to do with the fact that their daily commute can entail encounters with people openly smoking crack on the Tube, or people vigorously shagging on a moving bus, or vibrant individuals enlivening train platforms via the medium of machete fights.

But hey, let’s have more random uselessness instead. The bizarrely ineffective seems very much in fashion.

Via Tim Newman.

Readers will, of course, recall Transport For London’s previous efforts at uplifting its customers.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

From the Maltese town of Sliema, scenes of vibrant door-knocker relocation:

The Mayor of Silema, a small town in Malta, has appealed for witnesses after a man stole his door knob.

What kind of person goes around stealing door knobs?! pic.twitter.com/52iKgeOHia

— Rare | ♻️🇬🇧 (@RareRestore) August 31, 2026

The gentleman, whose identity has not been disclosed, is, it turns out, involved in “other ongoing court cases.”

Update:

Update:

Our aspiring knob engineer returned to pinch the other one, thus completing his set of stolen knockers. pic.twitter.com/TU4buTaSBH

— Rare | ♻️🇬🇧 (@RareRestore) September 1, 2026

The above now seems weirdly close to a comedy sketch.

Via EmC.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

Via Stephanie in the comments, a glimpse of the wider world and the wonders it contains. I’m assuming she collects these things. For reasons we won’t go into.

I mean, all things considered, this place is almost respectable.

Classy, even.

Oh, yes. Nearly forgot. Open thread.