@Enzyme
"The wrong foot" and "the wrong crowd" are, I admit, very general definitions, which I don't think I can easily define. I think you may have missed my point when you refer to it as a systematic grinding down - what I meant was that these people steer themselves into their own mess, whether it be a prison sentence for murder, running from a drug dealer, hospitalised following a pissed-up carjacking, or simply finding themselves broke and jobless with a criminal record by the time they turn 21. My point is that I would like to think - else I may have to give hope for humankind - that some of these thoughtless hooligans suddenly realise the hole into which they've dug themselves and begin to think it's time to make an effort to change.

Very idealistic, I admit, and I doubt it happens in most cases.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 29 Oct 2008, 12:28, Reply)