Sitting at a Subway working on a book Im writing when a disgruntled customer charges in. He (being mid-20s) starts yelling at a teenage employee (55 and scrawny) and dropping cuss words at him. I stand up, trying to make it look like Im getting a refill (which is next to the cash register). When I get to the pop machine, he lifts up his arm and begins to take a swing at the employee. As he brings his hand back, I grab his fist and pull him back a few feet so I can get between him and the employee. As soon as he takes a step towards me I say to him, Listen youre scaring people and its going to cause people to act irrationally and violent. Listen, I am not going to hit you. If you hit me, Ill have a bruise tomorrow and youll have an assault charge. If you provoke me, it will be very bad for you and everyone here is a witness. Lets calmly talk through this and get things straightened out. (At times like this, Im glad Im 64 and physically built. Even though I am a pacifist, my stature helps me.) During my conversation, an employee called the cops and I calmly talked to him until the cops came. It saddens me how in our consciousness we dont value the people around us and are willing to act in destructive ways toward them. We need more patience, empathy, and love.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 01:19:29 +0000
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