Failings of a Dark Knight
Today was the closest I ever came to killing a man. And I deeply regret I didn’t.
Casey has the details on her hand on how she was punched in the face by a complete jackass. Yes she slapped him. That in no way justifies the hit he gave her.
And me? I keep reeling with what I did … and what I didn’t do it.
My first notice of anything amiss was hearing Casey loudly question someone behavior. I took a quick look. A stocky, dull looking brute was her target. Wasn’t worried. Everyone knows Casey is a firecracker who can more than take care of herself.
I saw the guy comment, and Casey staring in anger. I started to turn away … when she let fly a beautiful slap that would make any Golden Age starlet proud.
I started heading over there to insert myself … and that’s when he exploded.
I was ins shock, and next thing I knew I was in between him and Casey, yelling at him “You don’t hit girls, asshole. You don’t hit girls.”
He began swearing in Arabic and saying it was none of my business. Note: I am half Lebanese, so I am certainly familiar with the swear words. And he represented many things I hate about the culture. Stylishly dressed men, who walk through life thinking they are better then everyone else, especially women.
And yet I was at the loss of what to do. Do I start wailing on him? Give him a chance to make reprimands before I start wailing on him? All I kept thinking was go for the throat, hard fast.
I turned to Casey to make sure she was okay.
She raised her face screaming at the guy to get out.
He scurried away. I started to head out the door to follow. To do what, I don’t know. Have words, have blows, track him. But the soft wailing of Casey drew me back.
Right now, my primary concern is Casey. Icing her face, helping her relax. But threads run through my mind. Outside of slow, slow deaths for the bastard, I wonder why I didn’t just let him have it.
Casey says she is glad I didn’t, that I am too much of a gentlemen to do it, and its what she loves about me. She also says she thinks I would just have my ass kicked, which hurts to hear, and I don’t completely agree with (he had mass, but I am not a Neanderthal and think evolution will win out). But she says its more to do with the fact that he had no honor, and would stop himself like she knows I would.
Some Dark Knight.
I am not all torn up about this. But it’s making me think of taking up a martial art again, if only to be the sidekick to my ass-kicking girlfriend.
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I can’t imagine what it feels like to be in your shoes right now Rudy. Just remember if you had beat the snot out of him both of you would be in jail right now. Instead you are there for Casey. Just take good care of your girl.
NASTY!
I hope she’s okay.
My stomach is tightening up reading this, just as it did when I read Casey’s account of the scenario — you did the right thing, being there for her. You’re a solid man, Rudy — never doubt that, bruh.
._. so much tweets about US politics today that I tuned out and missed the beginning, but it’s pretty sucky all this happened.
Being in shock is what anyone would be in. We live in a pretty safe part of the world that such things aren’t expected.
It’s cool you stayed back to check on her. Shows how important she is when raw emotions took over. Still, would have been useful to track him down to get a license plate number or something. Reporting to the police is probably the only way to get back at him. It could happen again to someone else. Were there witnesses to the origin of the conflict?
I am not sure taking up martial arts would help, at least in an actual fight. Most instructors are pretty tame here. And like Casey mentioned, they would probably teach to avoid conflict. What they often don’t teach is to stay alert or when things really turn bad and it would be a good day to die. I suppose it depends where you study.
I don’t think you’d get your ass kicked. You have righteousness and love on your side. Both sides would be hurt. The rest lies on the strength of the mind.
You did the right thing. Take care of her, file the police complaint, and let them deal with him.
holy crap! where did this happen?
good for you being the better man we all know you as
No good answers………never are.
I hope Casey is ok and this doesn’t affect the Daily Portraits…….(notice the grab for levity!)
Tony
Rudy, you probably made the right decision here. Lowering yourself to this jerk’s standards of life would not have made anything better. I too am half Lebanese and I know exactly what you are talking about with the lack of respect for women thing. Perhaps this is a calling for you two to start back with the martial arts thing, it’s definitely something couples should take up with each other.
I hope Casey recovers soon.
yeah dude, you would be in jail. you did the right thing.
the only thing i can think of doing is following him to his car to see his license plate and find out who he is.
a fight wouldn’t have solved anything. you did the right thing.
It takes US$10,000 to WIN a court case like this in the US, right or wrong. Don’t know what the law in Canada is like, but chances are in a fight like this, you might win, you might lose, but you might also walk out of the store to meet 5 of the guy’s best buddies.
What do you do? You did the most sensible thing you could have - get your loved ones out of danger, into safety, and to a medic. Protecting someone is more than just machismo - it’s making sure they’re safe and helping them heal.
Proud to call you a friend.
Rudy I don’t know You in person, But from what I have read, seen and Guessed you are a good man.
And 99.9% of we men would have the reaction, Or we would like to think we would have the reaction of hiting the NerfHerder But Thats in no way the best thing to do.
One you might do something you would regret, two he might do something, Well that type of wasted Carbon Wouldnt regret it(Looser!) And it would make casey so mixed, and have left you questioning what kind of man you Are,Are you cave or modern, that hole thing.
But by staying with casey(you knew she needed you) and dening a true misstake like taking on that guy You prooved you are a good man!
Casey saw it, you saw it and I am sure others in that store saw it.
And realize too that you and casey both referred to it as if it were a movie, and thats a really truthfull statement in the fact that few people in real life are faced with that type of situation.
That is a movie situation, if you wrote that you would most likely think of it as an homage to classic film rather then something that happins in a normal day to day life, most would think the same.
The point is that the situation(I wonder how many times I can say that word,lol)Is odd and rare, well where you and I live, Not sure of other places in the world, But You could have never planned for that to happin and if you ask me, you handled it as well as I hope I would!
You are both good people!
And I’m not sure about a report but and X-Ray might be a good idea!
Well Sorry for this longs ass rant, I hope it helps and allso, Sorry for any typos, I’m the wanna be writer who sucks at writing!
TTFN- Corey/Matthew/weker1/lameassmadeupname/CoCo(don’t Ask!)
I think both sides of your thoughts are important to have, restraint and that edge you can bring out if its really needed. Here it was Casey’s fight, not yours, so what I’m saying is that it was up to her to decide what was appropriate. From what you say you did exactly what was needed, which was stop it as soon as it happened. If Casey had wanted to continue the fight by asking you, then you probably should have jumped him but seeing a choice between vengeance and letting it go, letting it go is usually the better choice of action (just in the general ethical sense). I want to be sure you understand that by saying it was Casey’s fight that she in any way deserved the punch, just that if she could have taken the guy down alone you should most definitely let her. May I suggest you both taking martial arts together?
PS best wishes to Casey, that doesn’t sound like a fun time (I can honestly say I’ve never enjoyed a punch to the face).
re: prev post…
“I want to be sure you understand that by saying it was Casey’s fight that she in any way deserved the punch, just that if she could have taken the guy down alone you should most definitely let her.”
should read as:
I want to be sure you understand that by saying it was Casey’s fight “I’m not saying in any way” that she in any way deserved the punch, just that if she could have taken the guy down alone you should most definitely let her.
proofreading is not my forte…
Rudy, you did the right thing for sure. Things had already escalated too far, and taking care of Casey was the biggest and best thing you could have done. Ever proud to know you, Dina
Thanks all for the advise and consolation. I know you are all doing the same for Casey, and we both appreciate it.
Today we file the police report and harass hospital about getting x-rays like they promised. In the meantime, I think I will do a martial art if only to build some backbone.
Love you all, cheers!
If you’re so inclined, check out Stephane Meunier. He’s in Montreal and is a real nice guy and teacher.
http://www.budomontreal.com/
1st, i hope she’s ok.
2nd, you did what needed to be done at that time.
3rd, gods forbid if there ever is a next time, a palm-heel to the nose may even the odds quite a bit.
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Don’t worry about the macho heroics. That never really worked, outside of the stories we love. Being a good man — or woman — means taking care of your partner above all else. It wouldn’t have helped Casey if you’d left her alone to go settle the score. And these days, you don’t know what a confrontation could lead to. In Montreal, maybe not as many people carry guns, but in the very rough cities I’ve lived in (D.C., New Orleans, pre-corporate New York) you learn pretty quick to avoid confrontation because that person could have a weapon, or be sociopathic enough to have no qualms about killing or severely hurting someone, weapon or no.
Just this morning, my psychotic cab driver started yelling at someone who crossed in front of his car, and before we knew it, these two old fat guys had spat on each other and the cab driver was rooting around in his glove compartment for something — who knows what. I had Rachel in the cab with me and assumed the worst — if he had a gun things could have gotten dangerous fast. I had no qualms getting us out of the cab, down the block, and into a federal post office with armed employees before the can driver could notice we’d left and direct any anger to us. As we hurried down the block, I looked back and saw the cab abandoned in the road, these two middle-aged guys fist-fighting on the sidewalk, and police cars pulling up (it was right outside the Holland Tunnel). It probably would have been fun to watch, but being smart means getting out of there.
I agree with absolutely everyone else. You did the right thing. The smart man knows that you take care of the people you love and that it’s easy to die trying to satisfy honour. Some fights are worth fighting but in reality, there are few that qualify.
Casey’s day (and of course yours) would have been much worse if were hurt, in jail dead.
Glad that you are ok…and hope that Casey will be ok soon.
[…] and around sorting the medical drama that has resulted from Casey taking a punch to the face (more on that later) I had an opportunity to sit down with my friend and former personal trainer […]
Hey Rudy.
I meant to bring this situation up last night, while we were hanging out with our friends in NYC. The reason I didn’t is that being around you in person, it’s clear that you weren’t brought up for “the street life”. There’s *NOTHING* wrong with that, and you should neither feel upset nor ashamed that you didn’t attack the guy who punched Casey in her face for slapping him. It’s not “your thing”. You’re a kind person who wants to live life in peace, and that’s a fantastic way of being.
There was no “failing of a dark knight” here, because that’s just not you, IMO. You were a victim in this situation. There was no way that you could have known that that situation would turn physical. If you had had your druthers, neither one of them would have struck the other one, and you would have continued shopping like any regular day.
You’re not a troublemaker. As long as trouble isn’t made FOR YOU, you’ll be fine!