When is it OK to hit a girl?
This is one of those times when I have to be very clear:
Please... don't email me your opinion.
I love you but I don’t care.
It is obvious that one can be killed and/or permanently damaged by a female attack, and we have a responsibility defend ourselves.
The grey area lies in the degree of escalation.
This guy found himself surrounded by a pack of aggressive teenagers, who would repeatedly shove him when his back turned (and while his family watched).
He escalated it by punching one of them directly into the shadow realm.
So was the punch unwarranted?
Her decision to move to heavyweight certainly was...
(and again, I'm not asking you. I love you, but I don't care.)
The Answer: Who knows?
On the surface, the guy responded with the same attacks that he was presented.
She shoved... so he shoved back.
She raised her arms to punch... he punched first. Like a hydraulic press to the face.
I have no doubt that she will hibernate until warm weather.
What would the legal system say?
(Well, we'll find out, because the guy got locked up.)
These two people are CLEARLY not dealing with the same degree of destructive force in their attacks... and "self defense" cases are determined by the 'proportionality of the response'.
So, when is the line of "disproportionate response" actually crossed?
If I push you, and you shoot me... it's not 'self defense'. It's a disproportionate response, and you will go to jail.
If i punch you, and you punch me, it would seem that the response is proportionate... on paper at least.
But that's you, and that's me. Maybe this is just a girl.
This guy is on the precipice of potentially being 'jumped' by multiple teenagers in front of his family. His daughter is clutching onto her mother's leg as they both watch.
Fatherly instinct can not be taken lightly. When kids get involved, it's the most explosive burst of adrenaline that you can possibly experience.
He certainly felt threatened..
He just hit the ol' mute button realllllllly hard.
Some may say too hard.
IF 'doing damage' is the determined degree of escalation in a case like this, A kick to the leg probably could have gotten the same point across, without that girl requiring an aspirin IV bag for the rest of her life.
It's now up to a jury to determine if this guy's actions were a proportionate response to the threat presented.
We're not on that jury.
Now leave me alone.
I think what he did was perfectly warranted considering the situation. Girls don’t get a free pass to bully people just cause they’re smaller. You can only poke the bear so many times…