Hooligans

I've been meaning to write about the hooligans for a while now. We choose this nice, pretty, quiet suburb to live in and then managed to find the nosiest spot in it to live! Our apartment is off of a public square, which I thought was quaint when Pete showed me the photos. We are catty corner to a bar and when the bar closes, the hooligans spill into the square. Other times, the hooligans come on their own, on their noisy scooters or in their noisy cars. We learned the Dutch phrases for 'shut your pie hole' and 'please be quiet' and had them at the ready.

One evening early on, we were still awake when two teens were in the square, one with a boom box on his shoulder a-la Say Anything. Pete went down to the square to tell them to please be quiet because of our baby sleeping and as soon as he started walking towards them, they immediately shut off the music, apologized and left the square. This will be easy we thought!

A few weeks later we were woken to the sounds of a couple arguing. We looked out our bedroom window onto the square and saw a belligerent man drinking and yelling at a woman. In a meek, 2am plea to get them to be quiet, I threw open the windows and yelled "Oye" down to them (the Dutch expressions we had learned had slipped my mind!). The man looked up at the window and mock threw something at it. Awesome.

The only telephone number we know for an emergency here is 112. I was hesitant to call this number without the situation being a true emergency. So later when Pete and I saw a police man on speeding duty in the square during the day, we stopped him and asked him what we should do about the hooligans in the square. He gave us the telephone number of the local precinct and told us to call the number when people were being rowdy. He said that a patrol person would be sent around to speak to them. Awesome.

Perfect timing as a few nights later there were some more hooligans in the square. Not even bothering to ask them to be quiet, I tiptoed into the bathroom and placed the call to the precinct. A very polite woman took the information and told me that they would send a patrol person around. Within the hour, the noise stopped, though we didn't know if they simply left on their own. A few days later I received a call on my cell phone and it was the precinct calling to tell me the outcome of my complaint. She stated that they sent a patrol person around who spoke to the "youths" and gave them a warning about their noise. The next time they would be fined. She told me that it was "very good" that I called and told me to "please call again." What service!

Shortly before we left for the States in December, a large group of "youths" were hanging around the square, blasting hip hop out of their car right below our bedroom window. I opened the window and called down to them. One "youth" responded by laughing at me. Perfect. So I closed the window and called my lady at the precinct. Same story. The noise stopped and I received a call a few days later thanking me for calling. I have a feeling that the precinct lady and I are going to become good friends. In the meantime, we brought our white noise machine back home with us from the States!