Allow me to set the scene:
You are at a shopping mall. You are standing in a rotunda talking on your cell phone. During the conversation on the cell phone, you say: "...that idiot pisses me off too."
A passer by hears only this portion. He walks over to you and says, "what the fuck did you say to me?"
You are startled, put the phone at your side and say, "hey man, I wasn't talking to you. I was on the phone."
The passerby doesn't buy it. "shut your fucking mouth or I will beat the shit out of you!".
End of story.
Think about this: if you try to explain the situation and it escalates into a fight, will the court find you at fault because you didn't shut up? A case could be made saying that by not "shutting the fuck up" you were defending your pride, not your body...
I don't have a good answer for this, but it's something to think about...
In the scenario listed, the only option is to shut up, walk away, and continue your call out of earshot. If he follows you, then you know he wants more than for you to shut up and the game is on - time to go tactical.
ReplyDeleteIf you are making effort to back away quietly and he still pursues in anger is probably the very best you can do to establish (to a court) you were not interested in either fighting or escalating.
Going weapons hot at the first sign of hostility is not acceptable or viable for a civilian. However, if you are not allowed to peacefully extract yourself then the situation changes entirely.