The middle finger & bad words?

[NightOwl]

Keep your cool and don't mouth off- it keeps you out of trouble. Case in point :

The other night I was walking to the train station to meet up with my girlfriend and ran into about 6 drunk guys in their 20's causing trouble (shouting, banging on passing cars, etc). I knew that since I am a foreigner, I would stand out...sure enough as soon as they saw me they got really excited and started crowding me. They weren't saying anything overly threatening- mostly 'merry christmas' and some rather impolite phrases in broken English along with generally being annoying. As I broke out of the group, two ran up behind me and flanked me on both sides asking crazy questions. Now I was in my rights to tell these guys some things that I am not allowed to type here- they were being jerks to everyone passing by and they weren't letting me be. I actually thought 'Oh bother, am I going to have to fight these two?' as no matter what I said they wouldn't leave me be. However I stayed polite and upbeat and eventually they left. On the way back with my girlfriend however, I ran into them again- and the cycle repeated. Fed up, I looked them in the eyes, grabbed their hands, and said, 'Merry christmas to you too! And a happy new year!'. I then saluted as I walked off. As they passed farther and father into the distance, I heard one say, 'That gaijin was SO COOL!'.

...I must admit I chuckled a little bit

[bushido_man96]

A well-handled situation, NightOwl. Way to keep your head.

[Existence_is _suffering]

Keep your cool and don't mouth off- it keeps you out of trouble. Case in point :

The other night I was walking to the train station to meet up with my girlfriend and ran into about 6 drunk guys in their 20's causing trouble (shouting, banging on passing cars, etc). I knew that since I am a foreigner, I would stand out...sure enough as soon as they saw me they got really excited and started crowding me. They weren't saying anything overly threatening- mostly 'merry christmas' and some rather impolite phrases in broken English along with generally being annoying. As I broke out of the group, two ran up behind me and flanked me on both sides asking crazy questions. Now I was in my rights to tell these guys some things that I am not allowed to type here- they were being jerks to everyone passing by and they weren't letting me be. I actually thought 'Oh bother, am I going to have to fight these two?' as no matter what I said they wouldn't leave me be. However I stayed polite and upbeat and eventually they left. On the way back with my girlfriend however, I ran into them again- and the cycle repeated. Fed up, I looked them in the eyes, grabbed their hands, and said, 'Merry christmas to you too! And a happy new year!'. I then saluted as I walked off. As they passed farther and father into the distance, I heard one say, 'That gaijin was SO COOL!'.

...I must admit I chuckled a little bit

Hahaha, very nice!

[mmljpp]

turn the other check

[ryukasagi]

this has happened to me so much that i usually don't care anymore

[Tiger1962]

The last time someone gave me the finger, I grabbed it and bent it back until they appologized. They never did it again as far as I know.

LMAO - spoken like us true New Yawkers !

[white owl]

What gets me is these young teenagers doing that to adults.

To describe a situation that happen to me and my husband. We were driving and came to a intersection in the road it was our turn to go, an we start to pull out and these teenager just came up to there stop sign and just blow through intersection not even paying attention to any one around them. My husband hit the horn or they would of hit us, well they gave us the middle finger and laughed at us. Well my husband lost it. He hit the gas to catch up to them and they slam on their breaks trying to get us to hit them and the passenger of the teenage car hung out her window and gave us double middle fingers. I just could not believe these girls and yelled at my husband for speeding up to catch up to them. To wrongs do not make a right. But I do understand him losing his temper.

[JohnC]

People continue this kind of behavior because they have learned they can get away with it. Additionally, many times this experience of 'getting away with it' leads to escalation into even more troublesome behaviors. This silliness began back in the 50's with Dr. Spock saying that there was no such thing as a "bad boy", leading to the 'unconditional love' idea and so forth. However, in my view, we have created the world we live in, as we and our parents, are the ones who 'bought into' the approach and passed the laws allowing animals to wander the streets.

The old west may not have been as 'civilized' as today but they were a lot more polite. Knowing that the other fellow may very well take personal Offense with such behavior does tend to dampen it.

[Traymond]

Some may say you may win by walking away, but if they disrespect your honor what else have you truly got that is morally significant, sure you can pat yourself on the back and say that you controlled yourself. But did you really?

I never let anyone disrespect me, if they think they can do it, they will continue to do it, and that is just not acceptable. If they flip you off they do it for a reason, alot of times they dont want care about your reaction, they are just ticked off so they do it, I dont get mad. i just make it so they respect me afterwards.

If someone flips your off and you laugh at it...what does it make you look like? If your martial arts philosophy tells you not to fight, then dont fight, but every martial arts wants you to have self respect. How can you respect your self when you just let someone disrespect you? At least thats my opinion, and its only that.

[tallgeese]

Yeah, but keep in mind that confrontation can lead to escaliation and escalation can lead to a fight.

Now, when the police show up, it's not self defense, it's one guy who could have walked away but didn't. Now you're just as much an antagonist as the other and are far more likely to go to jail for some level of battery.

That's just a lousy idea all around. I'm with the "who cares" crowd.