I Sortof Got In A Fight With A Stranger At The Park

The men in this photo are much younger than the men in this story.

Now that my blood pressure has returned to normal range, I am reporting that I SORTOF GOT IN A

FIGHT WITH A MAN AT THE TENNIS COURT TONIGHT!

I was at the end of the court with my 9-yr old innocently picking up tennis balls, when we noticed through the chain-link, about ten feet away, a group of decent-looking adults screaming at each other.

My son looked at me wide-eyed and we both smirked at each other like, "Oh, wow!  A fight?!"

From what we could gather, an older couple with two dogs had asked Peter (I learned his name later), a man with one dog, to please walk his dog in the other direction, because one of their dogs wanted to play with his dog.

It sounds benign, right?


Apparently, Peter didn't want to walk his dog in the other direction.  It was his firm position that, "YOU SHOULDN'T BE OUT WITH A DOG YOU CAN'T CONTROL!"

That comment appeared to smack the couple in a vulnerable place and they lashed back with a string of profanity.  It escalated from there into a tennis match of heavy cussing.  I put my hands over my son's ears, then he tried to plug his own ears, then we both gave up, hoping it had blown over.

But, they kept yelling and swearing, and we had front row seats.  After several minutes had passed, and wow, A LOT of bad words can be packed into several minutes, I said weakly, "Hey, there are kids in the vicinity!"


They didn't even glance in our direction.  However, the couple started to walk away,  and I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over.

Just then, the woman flipped around and advised Peter on where to go and what to do when he got there.  Peter shot back a scathing personal insult, that would burn my fingers if I tried to type it.

The insult to his wife caused the man to turn and challenge Peter to a fight.  Peter accepted with a lot of fierce, "COME ON! COME ONS", and he began to tie his dog to a tree to free up his hands.

The woman was now hollering at the top of her lungs, "He's not worth it, honey.  Look at him, he's an old, fat, bald blankety-blank."

Really?  They were going to duke it out right there?  These two old men were getting ready to beat the crap out of each other on this beautiful summer evening?

And then, without even thinking,  I jumped into the fray.  I walked right up to my side of the chain-link and screamed, "SHUT. UP!!!!!!!!!!

And they actually did shut up.  For a few seconds.  The couple turned and left, but Peter charged over to me, "Ma'am, ma'am, I want you to know that if someone is going to be aggressive against me that I will do what I need to to protect myself."

I pointed to my kid as I said, "I don't like the "freakin'" language." (I'm not proud I used the word freakin, but there it is, my friends)  My kid is hearing this whole thing!"

He proceeded to yell at me about how not one cuss word had come out of his mouth.  That he hadn't sworn once, and had I noticed that?  Huh, had I noticed that?

Actually, I had not.  Upon further reflection, I think he may have been correct, but he certainly wasn't right.  If the swearing had indeed come from the others, then he had been just as mean and insulting with non-swear words.  In fact, if I were to crown a winner of meanness in the exchange, it would be him.

He continued to hound me through the chain-link about his innocence, and how PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BE OUT WITH A DOG THEY CAN'T CONTROL!!"

How 'bout you, buddy?  YOU SHOULDN'T BE OUT WITH A MOUTH YOU CAN'T CONTROL!  (I thought of this retort later, of course.)




Anyway, was I being courageous and asking for what I need?

Was I establishing a boundary of what I would not listen to in a public place with my kid?

Or was I just another person who shouldn't be out with a mouth she can't control?







P.S.  I did apologize for my outburst five minutes later, and that's how I learned his name is Peter.  He shrugged it off, but said I owed him a beer.  What?  I'm confused.  Was it codependent to apologize?  I feel messed up tonight.