Don’t stand up for yourself

Rather interesting that I stumbled upon this this evening.


https://katv.com/news/nation-world/graphic-video-man-brutally-beaten-by-group-who-cut-in-front-of-him-in-bathroom-line-hollywood-florida-boardwalk-assault-battery-injured-hospital-brawl-fight-caught-on-cam-camera


Based on my experience today on a thread on here, this is why we need to remember other humans are people too.

 

Another day in Florida

 

Jesus Christ.

Disgusting.

Yes, to your point; it's easy to forget there's a real person that you're talking to when you get into a disagreement. I've gotten into some disagreements here, but I try to remember that I'm talking to a real person. I'm sure I haven't always been as nice as I could have.

I understand that one shouldn't take things that are said here personally. But, that doesn't excuse the person who is saying it.

I don't get how anyone can beat another person unconscious over who's turn it is to use a bathroom... Then again, a girl I used to hang out with did take a swing at a lady who was pounding on the door while 3 of us were in there together one time. Oh, the young wild days.

 

As far as not standing up for yourself, I just remembered a situation that happened to some friends, probably almost 20 years ago.

We used to hang out with this group of people who would always go to whatever bar had the cheapest beer. Sometimes, that meant going into shitty neighborhoods.

One night, they were at this bar, and some guy was beating up his girlfriend, like really bad. They said he was hitting her with a pool ball. One of the guys tried to stand up for her. He ended up getting pulled outside by a group of guys and getting beaten really bad. He had stitches, broken ribs, etc. All for trying to do the right thing.

Some people don't deserve to inhabit this planet.

 

Jesus Christ is our savior. Not a swear word!

 

Maybe I'm trying to get his attention so he'll give those four people in Florida a rash.

 

lmao I hope you’re joking

 

Maybe now is a good time to remember that religion is not up for discussion on this forum.

 

It was the ganging up that takes it to the next level.
I feel for my kids, as I believe it’s going to take something severe to bring hope back. And Social Media and our government are not helping.

 

It will take economic and social policies which will allow one parent to remain home and actually teach their children how to be good, productive citizens. It will require that the wealthiest people and corporations pay taxes to support the infrastructure and society which they depend upon to make a profit. It means spending some of our tax dollars on the citizens, finally, instead of on subsidizing the minimum wage for corporations like Walmart and Amazon, both of which make billions off this nation, and yet pay no federal taxes and continue to pay their employees a non-living wage. And finally, it will take a serious shift in the mindset of about 43% of this nation's people, who (God knows why!) still worship their corporate overlords.

 

I quote the great “Flea” from red hot chili peppers last night at the VMA’s. “I love all of you I love humans I love deer and deer antlers”.

 

I have wondered if it’s possible to get back to the single earner family. I don’t think so, we want what the Jones have or even more so, more than the Jones, and corporations know this.

 

https://wgme.com/news/nation-world/...with-stab-wounds-fast-food-aggravated-assault

 

Not that any of this is up for discussion here, but wealthy people pay plenty of taxes.



If you think people with different political views than yours are the problem, you're not paying attention. Both sides of the 2 party system have good and bad. But, I guess if you only get your information from one side, it's easy not to notice.

I suppose it's possible when one of the parents is making very good money. But, OTOH, I make what I would have considered very good money a few years ago, and I am just getting by. Of course, that's partially my own fault for wanting nice things.

 

That’s just it, it’s too expensive to survive in our country, why is that? At one time a single wage earner was plenty for a family to survive.

 

I guess the pay structure has been adjusted because so many families are dual income. Corporations know they can get away with paying people less, and then the government comes along and takes their cut.

Of course this is just a broad generalization.

 

I agree to a certain extent. I haven’t researched myself, but there was a turning point. Was it we all needed to have the latest and greatest or was it the dissolve of the family unit?

I just started an Anthropology class, I hope to have more understanding of this when I’m done, even though I know it’s not a simple answer and probably won’t get that in this class.

 

I've been a single earner since before my first child 27 years ago. It does require frugality, and hasn't always been easy. My first home in 1985 was $32,000, and my current home in 1999 was $78,000. Those are the only two homes I've owned. At the time, my peers were buying houses twice as expensive.

When I bought my current home, I brought with me about $14,000 from the sale of the previous one. I put every penny, and my own labor, into that house to get it livable, plus bought a 1987 Tercel wagon commuter for $1600 (the Chick Magnet, I called it. Also the Brown Brick). Then we lived and raised boys, my wife homeschooled for the first three grades, and we could afford to do nothing more to the house. It's just how life was. We both wanted her at home more than we wanted the extra dollars of a second income, many of which would have been eaten up by daycare anyway. The biggest payback is that my kids got to be raised by their parents, which I understand is difficult these days.

I really believe that part of my peers' problems back then was their lifestyles. A $160k - $200k house was a lot in 1999, and people making considerably less than I was were buying them - with two incomes. In fact, the bank qualified me for twice the house I bought. I was more wise than the bank, and am glad to this day that I didn't allow myself to get strapped to a big loan.

So I believe it still can be done. You just need to decide whether having a stay-at-home mom is a top priority. If it is, you need to seriously crunch your budget and agree on what things can be done without. Then decide if you can still swing it.

 

I would think the higher rates of broken homes would steer things back towards the single income household, as you now have two homes for one family.

I'm sure there are a lot of contributing factors. I'll gladly admit that my personal financial issues are my own fault. But, anyone trying to support a family on one income these days is certainly facing challenges.

As @Daddykool mentioned, it requires living within your means, and making responsible choices. That takes a lot of discipline.

 

I think the tipping point was somewhere in the 1970s. Both my parents were born in 1955, and they both grew up with single earner families in the same town. Neither were swimming in money, but both families owned their own homes and never went hungry.

My mom's dad never finished high school and worked in a factory. He always had a fairly new car, and in 1965 bought a new 3 bed ranch style home in a new neighborhood in southeastern Massachusetts of 2/3bed ranches in a good area (can you imagine anyone building new ranch style homes today??). He had 3 kids, and my grandmother stayed home with them. My mom tells me she had a good childhood, they never thought they were "poor". My grandmother was definitely good with the budget though.

My dad's father drove a garbage truck for the city, same story, 3 kids and a stay at home wife.

Fast fwd to 1978, my parents bought their first house around the corner from my mom's parents shortly after I was born. They both worked, and my dad even had a weekend job at this time and through the mid 80s. I have 2 siblings, and both my parents always worked right up till retirement. My childhood was good, but not extravagant.

Me, I make mid 50s, which is probably more than my grandfather ever made (adjusted for inflation), I have no kids and zero debt, and wouldn't have a prayer of being able to afford a home in the neighborhood I grew up in on my single income.

I also have married co-workers that cannot afford a home in this same area even on TWO fairly good incomes.

Something shifted in the 70s that threw everything off, and started the upward transfer of wealth. Then along came Reagan-omics, wich exacerbated this. You can see it in music, in the late 70s/early 80s Billy Joel had written Allentown and Movin' out, and in 83 Jon Mellencamp wrote Little Pink Houses, which was about how the American dream was not working anymore.

I think maybe we DO have a higher general standard of living over the past 40 years, with more "wants" that became needs, but there has always been keeping up with the Joneses, I remember my grandfather telling me about a boss he had in the 50s that always drove a new Cadillac yet would often try to hit my grandfather up for money bc he was broke.

I think over the years advertising has become more effective of telling us what we "need", and companies have gotten great at parting us from our money while for the most part increasing profits/decreasing value.

IMO, the people/corporate entities at the top are doing a mob-style "bust out" of the lower/middle classes. It's like the sporting goods store episode of the Sopranos, they'll just squeeze and squeeze till there's nothing left.

 

Sad to see, but we also don't know what happened before they started recording the beating. For a whole family to beat one person would mean that person did something to initiate it. I'm betting the "victim" pushed the girl or hit her and then the whole family jumped him. Nonetheless, people should not be acting like this. No respect nowadays.

 

Also, if you decide to stand up for yourself... you better be ready to handle anything that arises. Sure, 4v1 is not fair, but it happens. I once showed up at the wrong party with a girl I used to date. Long story short, one of the guys at the party tried to hit on my girl and I didn't let that fly. I dropped him with a left hook and he ran inside to grab his buddies. Next thing I knew it was 6v1, I stumbled as I was swinging, and I was getting punched and kicked while I laid there protecting my head/face. Luckily, I walked away with very little damage, but it could have been way worse. I'm honestly surprised I didn't get stabbed lol.

 

It wasn't a family doing the beating. It was 2 couples. They cut in line in front of the victim and his wife. They pushed his wife, which led to the argument.

 

It's like people forgot how to live in a civilized society. If that ever even really was a thing.

 

Just throwing this out there

About 10 years ago we were in Italy in line to get into the Vatican. I was beside myself with all the line cutting going on. And I’m not talking about people holding spots, I mean just a group of people walking up and filling a gap in line. Finally a German family leaned in and said “lines are an American thing. Just relax, the place will be there when I get to the front”


Blew me away

 

That's one side of the story, my guy. The victims side. Of course they're going to tell their side as they saw it, but it doesn't mean that's the truth. Maybe it was 2 couples, but they were family? Mom, dad, daughter, and bf perhaps?

 

You said it was a family, even though there's no reason to think it was. I'm just telling you what the article said. And, every article I can find about it.

Did you read the article, or watch the video?

 

A Washington Commander just tried to stand up for his Dodge Charger getting stolen and he got shot.

 

I just threw that out there, brotha. I don't know if they are family or not. But that doesn't mean they might not be... Anyway, I did watch the video and read the article. It's all based on the victims side of the story. Not a witness statement or video of what lead up to the fight. There's always more to the story. Moral is, you better be able to squabble if you're going to stand up for yourself.

 

True. I'm sure there were words on both sides. But, there were witnesses, and none of the articles suggest that any of them disputed what the victim said.

It's certainly possible that the guy said some stupid shit. But, It sounds like the assailants were rude right from the beginning.

I agree with the last part of your reply, but I'll add that even if one can fight, you never know if someone is carrying. Personally, I'd avoid confrontation whenever possible.