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Would you, should you?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:54 pm
by jasmund
-All of us have been in public and have seen adults mistreat a child, a pet, or another person:
The question Woud you or should you say anything, or do anything?
Give an example of something you have seen , did you act on it, did you later wish you did, or did someone say something to you.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:56 pm
by minks
jasmund wrote: -All of us have been in public and have seen adults mistreat a child, a pet, or another person:
The question Woud you or should you say anything, or do anything?
Give an example of something you have seen , did you act on it, did you later wish you did, or did someone say something to you.
oh did you read my random thoughts posting hehehe I told my neighbor to watch her boy friends foot that my dog supposedly bit as my dog and the other dog in my care have been sick. This because I heard he sprayed wasp poison at them through our fence. Does that count.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:07 pm
by lady cop
we had a similar conversation a while back...i absolutely do NOT recommend confronting any stranger in public. call the law and get a tag number if possible. people are nuts out there. and drunk. and armed.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:10 pm
by minks
lady cop wrote: we had a similar conversation a while back...i absolutely do NOT recommend confronting any stranger in public. call the law and get a tag number if possible. people are nuts out there. and drunk. and armed.
not to mention stoned egads I pity you officers that have to deal with the drug addicts out there yikes.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:35 pm
by Clint
An uncle of mine just died. He was 82 years old. For most of those years he lived with his back wrenched out of shape and one shoulder significantly lower than the other. Why? It was because his parents used to drag him around by one arm. Any time he saw someone jerking a child around by their arm, he confronted them on the spot. It is likely that he saved a lot of kids from growing up and living like he had to.
Lady Cop, I respect your advice but I must say that we are living in a culture of fear. We need to work some things out by confronting each other. If we continue down the present path, every third person will be law enforcement. I can just see it now; “I pronounce you man and wife…and this is officer Jones who will move in with you to make sure no one gets hurtâ€. Granted, there are situations where it is best to call for help first and individual judgment is required to decide when.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:13 am
by abbey
Being an outspoken Brit with a big gob i frequently tell people how they should look after their pets.
The bag two doors away from me seems to think she is a good dog owner because she feeds it, the fact that he roams around the town with a pack of strays causing mayhem seems to mean sod all to her!
A while ago i told a woman in the local park to stop hitting her dog, and she tried so hard to justify her actions, so i took down her car number plate and reported her to the police and then the RSPCA.
Animals are innocents and need protecting, its our duty to look out for them.
Okay folks, rant over x
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:27 am
by Bridget
I hate Walmart and go there as a last resort. The main reason is the women who drag their children in there and then proceed to yell at them in a loud voice or slap them. This really gets my blood pressure up so I just don't go there and believe me the women that go to our Walmart are of the type you never, never say anything to them.

Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:20 am
by Porpoise
I agree with what Lady Cop said. Notify the police, a witness, or someone who works at the store, but don't mess with the attacker. He/she is way too dangerous and is best left to be dealt with someone who's trained to deal with people like that. I've been fortunate enough never to have seen anybody hurt their child, but I would certainly call the police if I did.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:37 am
by Jives
Yeah, it's my bad habit and it's probably going to get me killed.
A guy was swearing loudly in line with me the other day, I turned to him and told him, "There are women in here, watch your language."
Well after he stopped sputtering and got his jaw back up off the floor he said, "Yeah? Well most of these women talk worse than I do!"
So I told him, "Your lack of couth, disparages our gender and insults the integrity of all decent men. Where is your code of honor?" Then I looked him straight in the eye. ( I'm 6'1", 240 lbs. and I pretty much towered over him.)
At which point he looked at me like I was talking Chinese, blushed and shut up.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:42 am
by Clint
Jives wrote: Yeah, it's my bad habit and it's probably going to get me killed.
A guy was swearing loudly in line with me the other day, I turned to him and told him, "There are women in here, watch your language."
Well after he stopped sputtering and got his jaw back up off the floor he said, "Yeah? Well most of these women talk worse than I do!"
So I told him, "Your lack of couth, disparages our gender and insults the integrity of all decent men. Where is your code of honor?" Then I looked him straight in the eye. ( I'm 6'1", 240 lbs. and I pretty much towered over him.)
At which point he looked at me like I was talking Chinese, blushed and shut up.
That's what I'm talk'n about!!! :yh_worshp
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:44 am
by minks
Clint wrote: An uncle of mine just died. He was 82 years old. For most of those years he lived with his back wrenched out of shape and one shoulder significantly lower than the other. Why? It was because his parents used to drag him around by one arm. Any time he saw someone jerking a child around by their arm, he confronted them on the spot. It is likely that he saved a lot of kids from growing up and living like he had to.
Lady Cop, I respect your advice but I must say that we are living in a culture of fear. We need to work some things out by confronting each other. If we continue down the present path, every third person will be law enforcement. I can just see it now; “I pronounce you man and wife…and this is officer Jones who will move in with you to make sure no one gets hurtâ€. Granted, there are situations where it is best to call for help first and individual judgment is required to decide when.
Geeze here is my bad parenting story, telling on myself, whilst at a craft sale with my mom and 2 year old daughter (way back) mom held one hand and I the other and my daughter tripped so our instinct was to pull her up by her arms and Whamo the kid crumbled in pain just a screaming. We could not calm her, so off to emergancy we go.... well guess what we dislocated her elbow. Dr said it happens all the time, it is very easy to do on a young developing child and often times in innocence but other times parents really yank their kids about. Well we learned then what not to do, and when I see parents yanking kids by the arm I cringe.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:11 am
by valerie
Most recently, while walking with my father, mother and one of my sistersinto a restaurant, the guy behind us was unbelievable with the "F'ing this and f'ing that" so I turned around and said "Enough with the potty moutharound my mother" and he clammed up immediately. I wish I had Jives' waywith words but hey, it worked, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Jives,I salute you! A true man among men.One of my first posts here was asking if I should have reported a pottymouth!And animals, don't get me started!! I carry a center punch with me and would use it to get a dog or a kid out of a hot car. Quite a while ago, I did callour local police to report dogs in distress, some idiot left them in the backof a pickup on a mid80's day, and this huge St. Bernard had moisture all over the truck from his panting and the other had jumped out to try andhide in the shade UNDER the truck. Police officer was great, read the guy theriot act when he got back to the car...As for seeing something else, I would probably try to call police first. Dependingon what/who it was. I would have to really try and quickly judge thesituation. If it's a woman hauling her kid around, I might make the decisionto try and prevent it, hey, I'm really strong and feisty. One time I stopped aman going after a woman, but it was when I had Tamsen at my side, and she laser locked on the guy.Dogs, kids, seniors, hey, you can't have 'em. Not on my watch.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:13 am
by valerie
Sorry, gang, don't know what happened to this, it had paragraphs andpunctuation when I typed it, honest!!Stoopid ol' 'puter...
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:25 am
by Clint
I’ve actually had several experiences when I got involved. I’ve been beat up and I’ve been threatened. I wouldn’t change the way I did it in spite of some of the difficulty it has caused me and my family.
A funny one: I was shopping for some paint supplies. A lady walked up to the aisle I was on and I saw her putting pints of paint and sundries in her purse. I casually milled about until I saw her heading for the check out. I got in line right behind her and when she had paid for a few little things she was using as a decoy she started to leave. I said; “lady, are you going to pay for the stuff you put in your purse?†She screamed in horror. It was like she had seen someone get hit by a car or something. She started pulling things out of her purse and apologizing as she paid for everything.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:29 am
by minks
Oh here is a good reason why a parent should watch themselves with kids when out in public.
Again with my oldest when she was about 3 we were in the supermarket and she was running around playing with her dad, so they started a game of chase.
SO her dad let her run up ahead of him and he started to chase after her, and in her wee girl voice she yelled at the top of her lungs "DON"T BEAT ME DADDY' whoa, both he and I stopped dead in our tracks. Fortunately no one approached us, but we realized how quickly it could have been misinterpreted.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:50 am
by actionfigurestepho
The best thing I ever heard in my life: At a Chicago cubs game, this man was screaming drunk. "F this!" and "F that!" and "Fing cubs!" all over the place. Finally a man sitting down the aisle got up the nerve to say something. He stood up and shouted "Watch your language you a-hole! There are f-ing kids here!"
It was beautiful!
I think in the case of excessive volume or definately in the case of someone being verbally abusive in public it's OK to say something, but when it comes to minor things ike language we have to remember that we may not like it, but it is a free country, and we do have a first amendment. It may not be classy and it may be offensive, but technically it's our right to open our big fat mouths whenever we want. When I hear someone being loudly profane I'll ask them to turn the volume down rather than asking them to check their language.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:00 am
by Jives
In two weeks in our town we've had two deaths due to people running stoplights. The second death was a beautiful talented young actress that was the lead character in the local Summer play company.
Well, last week, I was waiting to turn left into WalMart and here comes some dumb lady with a carload of kids and people blazing through the redlight (not just a little late, I mean WAY late, traffic had already started to flow in the opposite directions) and I follow her in.
As she gets out of her car with the kids and husband in tow, I pulled up behind her, opened my window and told her, "Hey lady, we've already lost two people this month for running red lights, I don't think your kids want to make it three!"
She glowered at me and flipped me off, but her husband laughed loudly and yelled back to me, "Hey thanks buddy! She won't listen to me!":wah:
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:13 am
by lady cop
i was thinking about the infamous old NY case of kitty genovese, murdered in cold blood on the street in full view of an apartment house full of people at their windows (due to the screams)...not ONE picked up the phone. i respect everyones' opinions here, and see your point for sure Clint...but unless one is equipped and prepared (like Jives for instance) to deal with some nutjob, i still say don't get involved one-one-one. the shoplifter incident...i did undercover shoplifting duty for several years. i have taken knives, boxcutters, screwdrivers and guns off them. one officer was shot to death busting a shoplifter in a walmart, she was an innocuous-looking thief. it is a sad sign of the times that people have to feel constrained, but be aware that the person who is acting out can be quite stressed and dangerous. it's a case-by-case thing and should be considered accordingly. i would suggest picking your battles, don't mean to lecture, i just know that if it's dangerous for us, it is more so for well-intentioned civilians.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:17 am
by BabyRider
LC, you and I agree on most things, and I understand your point about people not taking things into their own hands. I don't agree with it, but I do understand it.
I have gotten involved in situations like the ones mentioned, and I have also walked away from some, too. It depends on the situation. Is it a man whaling on his wife or girlfriend? Find a cop, start yelling, send your 240 pound biker fiance over, just don't get hurt yourself.
I got lucky once: a guy was smacking his girl around in a pool hall where I worked and I went berserk. I grabbed the nearest weapon, which was a pool cue hanging on the wall and proceeded to take out his knees. Took quite a few people to get me away from him, I was so crazy. But that was luck. I know it, but I would still probably do the same thing anyway.
The lack of action; the turning a blind eye to injustices, the unwillingness to get involved....these are things I can't abide. When I see a parent screaming at their 3-year old, just because the kid asked for a lollipop I have to speak up.
I walked by a car in a parking lot just the other day and heard a woman screaming at the top of her lungs to these 2 little kids in the back, "I don't give a f**k what the f**k you want, I said no, god dammit, and you think your f****ng crying is gonna get you s**t??" Just screeching away at these babies. As I went by the car I said "That's a real pleasant way for you to talk to your kids..." She said "Mind your own F-ing business" to which I said, "You're making it my business and everyone else's that can hear your filth. You are seriously f***ed up yourself. I'd love to see thses kids in 10 years and hear how they speak to YOU...IF they speak to you."
Maybe she will continue to speak to her kids that way, but I made sure they heard someone say IT'S WRONG.
When I see something that's wrong, I try and change it. It's not recommended by some, but it's against my nature to do anything else. I'm not a sit-back-and-suck-it-up kinda person.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:30 am
by lady cop
i think we were typing away at the same time BR! (see above) as i said, case by case, and i would consider you one of those people who is equipped to handle many situations. ...why don't you go into the police academy? and be my partner!

car 54 where are you??????
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:37 am
by BabyRider
lady cop wrote: i think we were typing away at the same time BR! (see above) as i said, case by case, and i would consider you one of those people who is equipped to handle many situations. ...
That's the key, right there...you have to ask yourself: will I make the situation better or worse by getting involved?
lady cop wrote: why don't you go into the police academy? and be my partner!

car 54 where are you??????
If I thought I had anywhere NEAR the temperament to be a cop, I'd have gone for it years ago! I'd be the one they call in to do tune-ups, guaranteed!!! :yh_rotfl
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:38 am
by Clint
lady cop wrote: i was thinking about the infamous old NY case of kitty genovese, murdered in cold blood on the street in full view of an apartment house full of people at their windows (due to the screams)...not ONE picked up the phone. i respect everyones' opinions here, and see your point for sure Clint...but unless one is equipped and prepared (like Jives for instance) to deal with some nutjob, i still say don't get involved one-one-one. the shoplifter incident...i did undercover shoplifting duty for several years. i have taken knives, boxcutters, screwdrivers and guns off them. one officer was shot to death busting a shoplifter in a walmart, she was an innocuous-looking thief. it is a sad sign of the times that people have to feel constrained, but be aware that the person who is acting out can be quite stressed and dangerous. it's a case-by-case thing and should be considered accordingly. i would suggest picking your battles, don't mean to lecture, i just know that if it's dangerous for us, it is more so for well-intentioned civilians.
In the case of kitty Genovese I understand that the police should have been called. I’m just saying that I think we are in the condition we are in as a country because good people have been frightened into inaction.
A guy kept speeding past my house. Kids were playing in the street (not mine). I yelled at him to slow down. He stopped, pulled a gun out and pointed it at me. I dove for cover and made it to the phone to call the police immediately. The police showed up and actually caught the guy. He had ditched the weapon and nothing was done about it. I never saw him endanger the kids with his speed again.
I guess my perspective may be a little different. I saw a bartender confront some guys on the street because they were endangering his liquor license by taking drinks out of the bar. The two guys started beating up on him. I grabbed one of the guys and long story short… he (the guy I grabbed) ended up in the hospital. Come to find out, the two guys were off duty cops. One of them was the brother of the bar’s competition and they were trying to set this guy up for a liquor license violation. That was an ugly evening. I had guns put in my face twice. Should I have called the police, then gone to help the guy that was being beat to a pulp by the police? By the time I made the phone call he could have been dead.
BTW, as far as I know, the two thugs are no longer in uniform.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:45 am
by Jives
BabyRider wrote: As I went by the car I said "That's a real pleasant way for you to talk to your kids..." She said "Mind your own F-ing business" to which I said, "You're making it my business and everyone else's that can hear your filth. You are seriously f***ed up yourself. I'd love to see thses kids in 10 years and hear how they speak to YOU...IF they speak to you..
ROFLMAO! YEAH! Way to go, BR!
I forgot to mention two other incidents that happened to me lately, first I was at the pool when a lady came in with a 12 pack of beer in glass bottles and proceeded to start chuggin' them down.
I told her, "Miss? I'm sorry but there's no glass allowed in the pool area."
Whereby she replied, "Mind your own business, A-hole."
So I told her, "I swim at this pool and that makes it my business. A slip of the hand means the entire pool will have to be drained. Surely you can't want that."
"Shut up and stop talking to me."
"You know you're breaking the rules, being irresponsible, and setting a terrible example for your children, so get with the program, Alcoholic."
She went ballistic, and started screaming obscenities, so I turned to her children and said, "I apologize for your mother's behavior." Then I left.
The last I saw, her kids were looking at her like she was an alien.
Last month I was at a local Supermarket and I was crossing the dogfood isle. I saw a young hispanic kid sticking his head all the way into the 50 lb. dogfood stacks and I thought, "that's odd." So I sauntered down the aisle and looked in to where he was frantically digging, only to see that he was rifling a purse! He got more nervous, but I still wasn't sure what was going on. So I said, "Hey! That's a woman's purse! You're not a woman!" to see if he would make up some story.
About this time he ditches the purse and begins to walk quickly away from me, so I grab the purse and follow him shouting at the top in my lungs, "Hey! There's the purse-snatcher!" There's a purse-snatacher over here! Everybody look at the purse-snatcher! By this time, he's panicing and begins to run, but the little security guard grabs him, while the manager calls for the police.
I'm ex-loss prevention myself, and I could see two things right away,
1. The security guard was too small, and poorly trained.
2. The thief had passed panic and gone straight to desperate, he was glancing around wildly and LC will tell you that means he going to run for it.
So as the security guard dragged him towards the office, I hurriedly made my way to the front doors of the supermarket, then I took up a spot just to the side of the main doors.
Sure enough, I hear yelling and crashing not three seconds later and the sound of running feet. I waited until the sound was right on me....then I threw my leg out in front of the door.
The thief crashed headlong over my leg out into the parking lot, rashing his face pretty good. I pounced on him right after that, followed closely by the store manager and the security guard. We all sat on his arms and legs until the cops arrived a few minutes later, which gave me a great opening to verbally abuse him for a few minutes.
"Hey! What's wrong with you? Don't you know that belonged to someone's mother? How'd you like it if some jerk ripped off your mom? You pathetic loser!"
I took the purse back inside after that, an older Navajo lady took it gratefully. Turns out she had over a thousand dollars cash in it fo her rent.
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:55 am
by Jives
Clint wrote: A guy kept speeding past my house. Kids were playing in the street .
Same thing happened in my neighborhood in Montana. My father and the father of my best friend appealed to the guy to slow down, since the kids were always in the street, but this guy continued to speed excessively and even started driving faster, just to **** off my Dad and my best friend's dad.
So they put an old cardboard box in the street in the gutter (not in traffic, you'd have to go out of your way to hit it.), and wrote on it, "Slow Down, Children Playing."
Sure enough, like the jerk he was, the guy ran it over. So the next day they put up another one. The guy ran that one over too, and it began to be a game for him. Everyday, we'd put out the sign. Everyday, he'd come speeding by and destroy it.
Finally, after about a week of this, my dad and his friend filled the box with cement.
Sure enough, the next night at dinner time we heard....
Broooom, Brooom.. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRWHAM!!!Crash! Tinkle!
My father just smiled, and said, "Pass the potatos, please." That was the end of that.

Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:08 pm
by Betty Boop
Jives wrote: Finally, after about a week of this, my dad and his friend filled the box with cement.
Sure enough, the next night at dinner time we heard....
Broooom, Brooom.. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRWHAM!!!Crash! Tinkle!
My father just smiled, and said, "Pass the potatos, please." That was the end of that.
:wah: Classic!!!
Would you, should you?
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:40 pm
by abbey
Jives wrote: then I took up a spot just to the side of the main doors.
Good to see old spot came in useful. :wah: