Keep The Riff-Raff Out Of The Area

riff raff, middle english, from ryffe raffe, from rif and raf, “every single one”: Disreputable persons.

Item: Ronald Howlett faces charges after he became mad at two boys, 8 and 12, who were riding their bikes in a parking lot outside Heavenly Massage. He went inside the business, took a gun and threatened the boys. He claimed he “only wanted to keep the riff-raff out of the area.”

Given the choice to define as “riff raff” (a) two kids on bikes, or (b) the patrons of a massage parlor, including its gun-waving owner, I’d saw the riff raff was someone who had not been on a bike in years.

A guy who runs a massage parlor calling kids on bikes “riff raff”? Uh, I think it might be the other way around. Way around. The riff and the raff are inside paying some stranger to get their engines warmed up before The Big Show.

While outside, kids who don’t know the meaning of the word “adultery” or “fornication” are riding around the parking lot. They’ve probably heard “whore,” but don’t really know what it means; if they were allowed inside, given a short course and allowed to watch, they’d figure it out quickly.

But they’re just riff raff, says the owner, riding their bikes.