Ilearnt not to intervene on a late summer’s afternoon nine years ago. My son was still a baby and I was pushing him in his pram across a busy road in a responsible way, only after the green ‘walk’ man had lit up. I was about halfway over when a boy of about 14 on a moped scorched through the lights and past us, nearly hitting the pram. I yelled at him, and as I yelled felt the spirit of civic duty rise within me. If we middle-aged mothers don’t set the kids straight, who will?

The boy skidded to a stop and turned to face me. I can’t now remember what he said, but the gist of it was that I’d radically misjudged the situation and that if I didn’t show him some respect, he’d have to hurt me. Then he revved his engine and drove straight at me, stopping just short of the pram, to make his poin

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