Last evening I made a quick run down the hill to get dinner for us. We were both very busy on projects. My house is on a long, twisty, mountain road with a lovely view of downtown L.A. (Those stalkers can probably now locate me)<\/p>\n
Our neighborhood is one of those up-and-coming locations where old houses are being razed and newer nicer ones are being… well raised. The bottom of the hill isn’t really a great neighborhood.<\/p>\n
As I hit our street on the way back coming up the hill I saw something. It was 7-10 boys. It looked like 2 were having a fight. The boys looked somewhere around the age of 13-16. One boy had another in what looked like a head-lock of sorts and the others were clustered around smiling\/laughing. The boys looked to be of hispanic decent.<\/p>\n
I saw this, had a momentary desire to pull over and ….<\/p>\n
and drove on. <\/p>\n
I thought back to the two (and only two) times I’d been ‘beat up’ growing up. Both were before the age of 15. Both times I’d taken the course of no-resistance. Not to give in, but not to physically fight back. In both occasions I’d managed to walk away fairly (physically) unscathed. Memories, however, last forever.<\/p>\n
Should I have interceded as an adult<\/i>. What could I have done. I am a 35 year old (average height) male. I am physically out of shape with no defense training. There were at least 7 of them. <\/p>\n
So… do I find myself making excuses, justifications, rationalizations. I think how I used to have that golden wish of being a white knight. Media often portrays the hero as someone who will risk all to save<\/i> someone who can not defend themselves. I think of the weaker 13 year old boy being laughed at by 5 acquaintances while another pummels him for a reason that has little cause to justify that action. I think about a theoretical 2 year old girl that may exist and whether her mother is competent or sane.<\/p>\n
How do you save them all? You don’t kill yourself. Sometimes the hero has to walk away from a battle so that he can find a better way to help those around him without killing everyone involved. Sometimes, it’s not his job to save the one person in need he has seen.<\/p>\n
The knowledge that intervention can make things worse comes from experience and at least thinking and trying. Hoping along the way that you’ve made the right decisions.<\/p>\n
I think I made the right decision… Now all I have to do is see if there is anything I can do to prevent this from happening again or getting worse.<\/p>\n