Think of this thread as a companion to the similar thread started by another member. :)

About 10 years ago, me in my mid 50s, 6' tall 250 lbs....I'm sitting on a bench near a pond in a public park, with an adjacent well traveled footpath behind me. I'm just enjoying the weather, the serenity of the moment, and being entertained by a handful of ducks and geese that found my company amusing.

Down the path comes a mid 30s mom, her 14ish son, 10ish daughter, and their leashed golden lab.

The daughter throws the leash to the ground, the lab chases all the wildlife into the pond (so much for my serenity) gets his feet good and muddy, and then comes walking over to me, drooling all over my lap, and pawing at my jeans with his filthy feet.

As the 3 humans catch up with their dog, I look at the mother and say "mam, you really need to teach your mutt and your brat some manners" (we have a leash law in this town).

The woman responded in a way that I never expected.....she belted me in my left eye. Totally took me by surprise. I wear glasses, and either the eyeglass frame or perhaps a ring she was wearing... opened a cut on my cheek. Noteworthy amount of blood on my hand as I felt to inspect the damage.

My immediate thought was "if I hit her back, I'm going to jail" I mean there she is, a mom with children, in a park;......there is just no way I could lay a hand on her without looking like the badguy.

SO, instead I rattle off an extended tirade of profanity, engineered to give the woman plenty to explain to her two children. I used all those words that people in the other thread say should NEVER be used in mixed company. and gave the woman considerable credit for acrobatic dexterity of an adult nature.

The woman had just the expression on her face I had hoped to put there, the teenage son appeared traumatized, and the young girl appeared truly confused.

I had, by all indication, affixed a heavy tax onto whatever joy that woman got out of sucker punching me.

They left, and a few short moments later I see the woman about a hundred yards down the path, animatedly ranting to some other pedestrian and pointing my way. So, I waved back. Thought it was the least I could do. And thought to myself "I really hope she goes and finds a cop" me sitting there with muddy paw prints all over my jeans, and blood on my shirt, I felt that I had a story worth telling, too.

My serenity was stolen that day, but I managed to replace it with her children's innocence.

Am I the bad guy here? :eek:

Think of this thread as a companion to the similar thread started by another member. :)

About 10 years ago, me in my mid 50s, 6' tall 250 lbs....I'm sitting on a bench near a pond in a public park, with an adjacent well traveled footpath behind me. I'm just enjoying the weather, the serenity of the moment, and being entertained by a handful of ducks and geese that found my company amusing.

Down the path comes a mid 30s mom, her 14ish son, 10ish daughter, and their leashed golden lab.

The daughter throws the leash to the ground, the lab chases all the wildlife into the pond (so much for my serenity) gets his feet good and muddy, and then comes walking over to me, drooling all over my lap, and pawing at my jeans with his filthy feet.

As the 3 humans catch up with their dog, I look at the mother and say "mam, you really need to teach your mutt and your brat some manners" (we have a leash law in this town).

The woman responded in a way that I never expected.....she belted me in my left eye. Totally took me by surprise. I wear glasses, and either the eyeglass frame or perhaps a ring she was wearing... opened a cut on my cheek. Noteworthy amount of blood on my hand as I felt to inspect the damage.

My immediate thought was "if I hit her back, I'm going to jail" I mean there she is, a mom with children, in a park;......there is just no way I could lay a hand on her without looking like the badguy.

SO, instead I rattle off an extended tirade of profanity, engineered to give the woman plenty to explain to her two children. I used all those words that people in the other thread say should NEVER be used in mixed company. and gave the woman considerable credit for acrobatic dexterity of an adult nature.

The woman had just the expression on her face I had hoped to put there, the teenage son appeared traumatized, and the young girl appeared truly confused.

I had, by all indication, affixed a heavy tax onto whatever joy that woman got out of sucker punching me.

They left, and a few short moments later I see the woman about a hundred yards down the path, animatedly ranting to some other pedestrian and pointing my way. So, I waved back. Thought it was the least I could do. And thought to myself "I really hope she goes and finds a cop" me sitting there with muddy paw prints all over my jeans, and blood on my shirt, I felt that I had a story worth telling, too.

My serenity was stolen that day, but I managed to replace it with her children's innocence.

Am I the bad guy here? :eek:

No, you were not the bad guy here. She shouldn't have hit you in your eye. That's assault. I could see her just giving you a nasty death glare and saying something like,"It's none of your business how I raise my children and take care of my Dog," but her hitting you in your eye was completely out of line. She's lucky you didn't hit her right back and just cussed her out. A lot of People in your position would have hit her right back. You let her off really easy.

Thanks for your support.

I thought about this incident quite a bit after the fact, because it really bothered me she got off so light. But the laws here in this state just favor the woman so much.
Even in any domestic disturbance ...even if the wife hits first, if the hubby hits back, once the cops are involved it's ALWAYS the man who goes to jail.

So, I started thinking creatively. What could I do, in response, that would inflict a maximum amount of pain, that would NOT risk sending me to the caliboose?

And, I decided that military grade pepper spray was my best solution.
NO ONE could blame me for using a defensive tool in response to first being hit....and once sprayed the pain would be long lasting. This last part was the main draw, thinking it would be as good as hitting again and again for a half hour.
SO, I got a deluxe spray can.

Not out of fear, but just to be prepared.

And I'm happy to say I've never had to use it. But it's nice to know that if I ever again have to tell some militant mom what a brat her devilspawn is,.. I'll be prepared.

I could see her giving you a nasty death glare and saying something like,"It's none of your business how I raise my children and take care of my Dog,



For the record, we have a mandatory leash law in our community, so the dog and the kid became my business, when they decided to break the law. :D

One silver lining to this ordeal that I did not recognize until years later, is the way they have our laws written with compounding penalties.

When one commits multiple misdemeanors in concert, depending upon the nature of each, they can become felonies, to make it easier to prosecute.

Committing battery in the presence of a minor that results in serious bodily injury is one I see in our headlines often. Wouldn't it have been a hoot if this gal ran to the police, but ended up losing custody of her own children over her own behavior?... Think of the example a person such as her might set for the kiddies, every day.

One silver lining to this ordeal that I did not recognize until years later, is the way they have our laws written with compounding penalties.

When one commits multiple misdemeanors in concert, depending upon the nature of each, they can become felonies, to make it easier to prosecute.

Committing battery in the presence of a minor that results in serious bodily injury is one I see in our headlines often. Wouldn't it have been a hoot if this gal ran to the police, but ended up losing custody of her own children over her own behavior?... Think of the example a person such as her might set for the kiddies, every day.

There was a news report on something similar. Criminal with outstanding warrant for a serious crime went to a fast food restaurant and his fries were cold. Criminal called police to report the workers for giving him cold fries. :rolleyes: Police run Criminal's record and found out he has an outstanding warrant for serious crime and arrest and imprison him. What an idiot that Criminal was! :rolleyes:

LOL, I had a similar ordeal where this man and woman walking by had an unleashed pitbull running free. Which after the pitbull had destroyed my serenity, I reminded the man that there was a leash law.

He asked if I'd like it if he came over to button my lip. He had a hardened "jail dawg" look about him

I asked how he'd like it if I called the cops......and reminded him that a visit from the cops would include a warrant check.

I must have hit paydirt, he moved along without further incident.