Fight Club

How much can one know about oneself if one has never been in a fight?

It is a good question and one I think all women and men should take seriously. As someone who has been in wars and had his face stomped against a curb, it is, in my humble opinion, important for oneself to know how respond in times of physical crisis.

This of course has been the subject of a number of movies...Spike Lee was always really good at it. But yesterday, while walking to the store. I saw a guy getting the crap kicked out of him. Thanks in large part to my work at the shelter, I became aware of how to deal with violence. I ran up, said stop and said that I was calling the police. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on and what was happening. You never know if someone is retaliating for something, if these 2 guys know each other etc.

The guy doing the beating says to me "mind your own business" and comes towards the guy on the ground who I notice is clutching a duffel bag for all he's worth. So I got between them and said "no", and that I my friend was calling the police right away. Luckily, it worked and he left. I was worried I was going to have to fight before that, but "air of authority" can sometimes work. Of course, it didn't help my "authority" cause wearing a bright pink ball cap and Norwegian sweater.

But alas, the guy who got beaten was relatively OK. He got some of his belongings stolen. Turns out he was a door to door perfume salesman and I helped prevented a couple thousand dollars of his stuff being taken. He was grateful and I was full of adrenaline, but at least aware that I could survive in a rough situation.