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Some midget just threatened to kill me
inlemur
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So as I'm walking up to my bus stop tonight, I can see a short person inside alone, and I think to myself "weird, there's a 10 year old alone at a dark bus stop at night." When I get a bit closer I see the glow of a cigarette and realize it's a midget. I get to the bus stop, step in, he looks at me. I say "Sir you can't smoke in here." He honks at me (?!).
"Excuse me?"
"HRNK"
"Do you speak English?"
I can see under his winter coat that he has a tie on, so this isn't a vagrant.
"Yeah," he answers.
"Well then I'd appreciate if you'd smoke outside the stop or put it out."
"Do you want to die young?"
WTF. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
If this was some bum I'd just back off at this point, but the fact that he's a midget combined with the fact that he's well dressed throws me off. I mean, I'm pretty confused by a physical threat from someone who is three feet and 40 pounds smaller than me.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Wait and see, asshole," and he throws his lit cigarette at me.
Alright, WTF, I call the police. When he sees this he scampers off down the street, flags down a different bus, and hops on it. I tell the police what happened, they ask if they should send an officer, and I tell them that the guy is gone now so there's no emergency or anything.
So, WTF. What are my options when someone (in particular an insane midget) physically threatens me? The cigarette throw could be considered an attack, right? Can I fight back here? What about the fact that he's a midget and (assuming he doesn't have a weapon, which may not be a good assumption) I would tear him apart in a physical encounter? I don't want to get into legal trouble. Should I have stopped the bus he was getting onto? This is a bus stop I go to frequently, so I could run into him again; appropriate course of action?
"Excuse me?"
"HRNK"
"Do you speak English?"
I can see under his winter coat that he has a tie on, so this isn't a vagrant.
"Yeah," he answers.
"Well then I'd appreciate if you'd smoke outside the stop or put it out."
"Do you want to die young?"
WTF. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
If this was some bum I'd just back off at this point, but the fact that he's a midget combined with the fact that he's well dressed throws me off. I mean, I'm pretty confused by a physical threat from someone who is three feet and 40 pounds smaller than me.
"What are you going to do about it?"
"Wait and see, asshole," and he throws his lit cigarette at me.
Alright, WTF, I call the police. When he sees this he scampers off down the street, flags down a different bus, and hops on it. I tell the police what happened, they ask if they should send an officer, and I tell them that the guy is gone now so there's no emergency or anything.
So, WTF. What are my options when someone (in particular an insane midget) physically threatens me? The cigarette throw could be considered an attack, right? Can I fight back here? What about the fact that he's a midget and (assuming he doesn't have a weapon, which may not be a good assumption) I would tear him apart in a physical encounter? I don't want to get into legal trouble. Should I have stopped the bus he was getting onto? This is a bus stop I go to frequently, so I could run into him again; appropriate course of action?
XBL - remura
inlemur on
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Wait, you didn't need help with midget jokes, did you?
(He was drunk and won't remember it...)
There's no need to ponder whether you should physically retalliate.
1) a cigarette throw is not an attack that can justify you, say, punching him
2) he probably had a bad day
3) he has "tough guy" syndrome
4) a lot of midgets can kick your ass, dude
5) he ran away because he didn't want to have to deal with cops
6) not sure if it's illegal to smoke in a bus shelter (assuming it's one of those glass-walled dealies). At least I can't remember
I am sure he won't be instigating anything with you should you ever meet again
You're rediculous. First, do you know where Tennessee is? Second, I'm not there. Third, this guy was like 35, I don't care what his height is. If he wants to smoke, he can do it outside like everyone else. Fourth, you consider a threat on my life and throwing a lit cigarette at me "rude"?
Of course there is. At some point in a confrontation, it becomes ok to defend yourself. What if he throws a punch at me instead of a cigarette? Should I just let him attack me and call the police later? In this case, I obviously didn't feel the need to physically defend myself, but there is a line that has to be drawn somewhere.
and it wasn't a serious threat, grow up
What you do is realize that, with a bit of artistic license to make you sound like less of a douche, really, you came out of the situation with a mildly amusing anecdote, and no harm. Win-win.