I agree with everything you say except with respect to baseball caps and hoods, Guest.

With respect, that is a sensible move for two reasons.

1. In the UK (I can't speak for the USA), baseball caps and hooded fleeces have become the preferred dress for muggers, and bank robbers, since the combination hides the face very effectively.

2. It has also become a uniform for disaffected youth, and gangs of faceless youngsters hang around on every street corner, at all hours of the day and night.

It is impossible to tell whether you are looking at a bunch of kids hanging out, or a mugging gang. So people, particularly the elderly, are intimidated by the sight. They are afraid to use an ATM if such a group is present, and, if they are mugged, even with CCTV on every highstreet, there is damn all chance of catching the culprit(s).

I am the last person to wantonly infringe on other peoples choices of dress, but IMHO this is a fashion that needs to be stamped out, as it is per se threatening behaviour. In the case of the kids, there is no intention to threaten, but it IS perceived as threatening by others, and I feel that everyone has (or should have) the right to walk in the street without fear.

Don T.