Restraint-another freak story

[kaizasosei]

this time it sortof ticked me off.

So i'm driving through a really busy part of town in my gf vehicle when i decide that i can still make this yellow light(light here turn yellow before red and again before green) anyhow, light turns red on me and people shoot out in front and behind the car effectively trapping me on the crosswalk-sortof uncomfortable i try to manouver away despite the red light-traffic is slow-there's something like a 20 ro fine for being on a crosswalk...ok, whatever, then this freaky dude, maybe in his 50s and sortof looked a little filthy comes up and opens my door. I stay calm assessing the situation and as he's yelling at me and bitching at me, i ask him 'why did you open my car door? What is up with that?' then he freaks even more and starts yelling at me hardcore. I explain to him politely and he shouts some more and proceeds to slam the door closed. Right then i say '*******' or '***' or something like that. So he hears me say this and totally freaks out turning back to open the door again. I look straight at him and slam dowm the lock and look at him. Then the mofo kicks the car door. And i tried to weaken his blow from inside and then i thought to myself, if he kicks the car one more time, i'm getting out. The car is already in neurtral and brake on my seatbelt is off and i'm about to get out to kick his *** cause i feel he's going to hit the car again. But then he just conjures up this massive loogy and spits right on the drivers side window-i roll my eyes and keep telling him to calm his *** down... then he turns and takes off.

I am really proud of myself for handeling the situation as i did. Thing is if i had engaged in any stupidity, immediately people would have noted the licence plate of the car and escape would be difficult.

What i am a bit ashamed of(aside from leaving my door unlocked) is that after leaving the scene i get really pissed off and decide to hunt the ****er down...i prepared a change of clothes as well as my phone. I was going to walk right through him, knock him out, tie him up or simply call the cops on him. I mean i'll pay the crosswalk fine but that dude is an idiot. In the states, i would have maybe even chosen to shoot him in the belly..i searched for him all over for almost an hour but didn't find him. Probably good thing anyhow. Could not do anything, as being in car on the crosswalk was not a good spot to work from.

I guess i did the right thing. Lucky for me and probably lucky for him too.

I took the car to the carwash the next day and he didn't even manage to dent the door with his kick i can barely make anything out as it's already a bit scratched as it is. No loss really.

What would you have done? In your country, under the laws there, what would be the most appropriate course of action??



j

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Lesson learned:

Don't rush lights and don't leave doors unlocked.

 

[Flea]

In the states, i would have maybe even chosen to shoot him in the belly..

:jaw-dropping:

I don't know if I should take that as an insult to my nationality, or if I should just feel sorry for you for being so ... so ... I can't even think of the word right now.

Isn't self-restraint supposed to be a major facet of the martial arts?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

What would you have done? In your country, under the laws there, what would be the most appropriate course of action??

In most parts of the USA, you're not supposed to enter an intersection on caution. If you are in an intersection when the light turns yellow, you must clear the intersection even if it turns red. Obviously, there is some leeway generally given. However, yellow does not mean 'speed up' as some folks think it does.

Technically, you're not supposed to enter an intersection unless you can clear it, even if the light is green. In some jurisdictions, it's illegal to do so. It's called 'blocking the box' and it is a major cause of gridlock. You enter the intersection on green, but cannot clear it because of the car in front of you. The light changes and you still cannot move, and now the cars going the other way on green cannot move either, because you're blocking the intersection. So nobody moves at all. Frustrating.

As to what I'd do if some lunatic came running up to my door and pulled it open, I guess I'd try to drive away if there was a way through the intersection at all. If I felt I was in danger from the man, I'd be justified in defending myself, but that's a judgment call. And being justified in defending myself doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good idea. Lunatics can also be strong, and some are armed. I guess if I could not go anywhere in my car to escape this madman, I'd start dialing 911 on my cell phone. If nothing else, I'd want a record of it on their tape of him screaming at me. And I usually carry a camera as well, being an amateur photographer. I'd take his picture, and his car if I could manage it. I would not exit my vehicle unless I felt I was about to be attacked and needed room to maneuver.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Leaving your doors unlocked was unwise.
Trying to beat the light was foolish.
Going back to hunt for the man was insane.

 

[kaizasosei]

Leaving your doors unlocked was unwise.
Trying to beat the light was foolish.
Going back to hunt for the man was insane.

I agree. I think you are spot on with that. I felt pretty psycho searching for the guy, but honestly i was having a really bad week. I kept repeating the scene in my head right after it happened and kept remembering how the guy called on me once or twice to get out of the car. I must say i really wanted to get out of the car, but the car was a responsiblilty that i could not put aside.

Just to add, i was not going fast, creeping really with hardly any gas and would have cleared the intersection had the hords of pedestrians not shot out the second their light turned green.

I imagine someone less understanding than me or even i myself, if i felt my life was in danger could possibly shoot the guy in the chest. In the states, there's a chance in some states you could get off without any charges.

But really, the soul is the real target not the body. So i probably would try a whole bunch of stuff before resorting to violence or lethal force. But it really is good that i didnt find the guy cause i bet some kind of madness would have taken place. At best i would have restrained him and called the cops, worst case, in the state i was in, i might have hit him hard, real hard maybe even too hard.

I don't know if I should take that as an insult to my nationality, or if I should just feel sorry for you for being so ... so ... I can't even think of the word right now.

Isn't self-restraint supposed to be a major facet of the martial arts?

No need to feel sorry for me. I can hold my own and am ready to accept whatever mess i get myself into. Rather feel sorry for the person on the other end of my strike. Or feel sorry for the person that sacrifices his life for nothing. I'm really just out to make friends, but i'll settle for a penpal in hell and a cell if it absolutely need be.
About the gun laws in the US. It is a fact that one has the right to be able to defend oneself with firearms.

Say someone opens your door and threatens you. You pull your firearm and warn the person to back off. If the guy is crazy enough to still try and attack you, chances are at that stage you must fire. That is a fact. So the negative side of the gun laws is that **** can easily escalate. That i can understand. But the positive side is that you have the right in many instances to use firearms to protect yourself.

Just to note, even had i had a gun with me, i would not have even pulled it-maybe i would have tried to get ready to get it in case i needed it, but i most certainly know that many problems can be made worse because of premature gun use. However, fact is that shady actions like opening someones car door and throwing a spaz, could even get you shot, especially in land or place where people are authorized to carry firearms in their daily lives..

j






j

 

[Bill Mattocks]

About the gun laws in the US. It is a fact that one has the right to be able to defend oneself with firearms.

Not exactly. When in public and not in their home, one (generally) has the right to defend oneself using deadly force from an attack where a reasonable and prudent man would be in fear for his life. That's not the same, and it says nothing specifically about guns. Deadly force can be a chair over the cranium or jumping on a person's chest after knocking them down.

Some states have a 'duty to retreat' requirement, and some do not. In states which have a duty to retreat, you must first attempt to escape before resorting to using deadly force.

Say someone opens your door and threatens you. You pull your firearm and warn the person to back off. If the guy is crazy enough to still try and attack you, chances are at that stage you must fire. That is a fact. So the negative side of the gun laws is that **** can easily escalate. That i can understand. But the positive side is that you have the right in many instances to use firearms to protect yourself.

You seem to have a distorted idea of the laws of self-defense in the USA. You seem also to think that weapons are magic wands, you wave them around and good things happen. They don't.

Just to note, even had i had a gun with me, i would not have even pulled it-maybe i would have tried to get ready to get it in case i needed it, but i most certainly know that many problems can be made worse because of premature gun use. However, fact is that shady actions like opening someones car door and throwing a spaz, could even get you shot, especially in land or place where people are authorized to carry firearms in their daily lives..

There is no situation I can think of in which anyone's life became less complicated and expensive because they used a firearm. Justified or not, you risk immediate arrest and subsequent loss of employment while you arrange bail. You risk loss of professional reputation and civil lawsuit - and that's if the Grand Jury does not return an indictment or the DA decides not to prosecute. There is no easy shoot where you tell the cops your side, they say OK and you walk home. Does not happen. At the very least, when a shoot is clearly legitimate self-defense, you are going to be spending a lot of money and will be involved in a lot of hassle.

 

[CoryKS]

No need to feel sorry for me. I can hold my own and am ready to accept whatever mess i get myself into. Rather feel sorry for the person on the other end of my strike. Or feel sorry for the person that sacrifices his life for nothing. I'm really just out to make friends, but i'll settle for a penpal in hell and a cell if it absolutely need be.
About the gun laws in the US. It is a fact that one has the right to be able to defend oneself with firearms.

I suspect that she felt sorry for you for being so mentally and morally degenerate that you would think that shooting someone in the belly would be an acceptable response to someone reacting angrily to your poor driving ability. Get some professional help, dude.

 

[blackxpress]

I've been in similar situations twice over the years. In one instance I actually had a .45 in the car but chose not to use it. Both instances were situations where someone tried to punch me through my open car window. Both times I was lucky in that traffic was light and I was able to move the car. I responded the same way both times with the same result. I caught the attackers wrist, held on tight and hit the gas. I don't know how much damage was done to the other guy's arm as it hit the door post or to his body as he hit the ground but I do know that both guys were still lying in the street as I drove away and neither of them got back up and gave chase. The moral of the story is that a car can become a very effective weapon if you are able to get it rolling.

Otherwise, if the car was blocked and some guy was opening my door (unlikely since my doors are always locked) I would get out and let him have the car if that's what he wanted. If it's me he's after I'd rather fight him on my feet than sitting behind the wheel where I can't move. Even if I had a gun I would not use it in that situation. If he's opening the door and hasn't shown me a gun by now, chances are he doesn't have one. The last thing I want to do is open fire on an unarmed man. And, no, you can't pull out your gun and threaten him with it. First rule of firearms safety: Never point a gun at anything you do not intend to shoot. If I pull a gun on the guy I'm opening fire. Simple as that. It ain't like the movies where you point your gun at the guy and he does what you tell him. As soon as the gun comes into play things get real crazy real fast. That's why carrying a gun is a huge responsibility.

 

[Steve]

This is a very bizarre thread. From your own description, the picture you're painting of what happened tells a story more of dumb luck than of restraint.

 

[Flea]

No need to feel sorry for me. ... Rather feel sorry for the person on the other end of my strike.

Ego, ego, and more ego.

Or feel sorry for the person that sacrifices his life for nothing.

It's not a "sacrifice" if some guy you get mad at goes out of his way after the fact to "hunt" you down. That kind of hunting serves no useful purpose at all. The only thing at stake is your ego. You're not that important, and neither is your car. And supposing you found him and he had a gun?

I'm really just out to make friends,

but i'll settle for a penpal in hell and a cell if it absolutely need be.

I don't know about the penpal, but at this rate you might want to get some curtains fitted for that cell. You seem pretty driven to "prove" yourself somehow. If you want to be important, try doing something constructive like mentoring a child or planting a tree.

 

[kaizasosei]

My last messages were sortof written in haste and spite. Life's kindof rough at the moment too. Please don't take what i wrote too seriously because i'm actually not all too happay about it myself.
Thanks for the feedback everyone.


peace out

ps: i got into another silly arguement at the supermarket today. Frankly i'm sick of it. New resolution: avoid swearwords and cursing!


j

 

[Steve]

My last messages were sortof written in haste and spite. Life's kindof rough at the moment too. Please don't take what i wrote too seriously because i'm actually not all too happay about it myself.
Thanks for the feedback everyone.


peace out

ps: i got into another silly arguement at the supermarket today. Frankly i'm sick of it. New resolution: avoid swearwords and cursing!


j

Just for what it's worth, there's an old saying: "The only thing every failed relationship in your life has in common is you." If you're really sick of it, instead of avoiding swear words and cursing, maybe try avoiding silly arguments and confrontation. This being the internet, who knows how you are in real life, but if you're seriously getting into arguments and altercations on what seems to be a routine basis, maybe you should think about talking to a pro about it... getting some help.