Reactions to verbal taunts

What kind of physical stand are you referring to?
What " point " exactly are you trying to make with said " physical stand " ?


Verbal taunting does not legally allow for physical assault.

We've hashed this out before.

When I was in 10th grade at a new school, a group of guys decided that I was the object of their bullying. For the first 3 weeks of school they hassled me at gym, cafeteria, hallways, and class. I tried to turn the other cheek and mind my own business and all this did was empower them.

One day in science class the ring leader and biggest bully in the school was torturing me during the entire class in order to show off for the girl he was sitting next to. I ignored him for half of the class. Then he started to smack the back of my head. After the third time, I told him to stop. So did the teacher. He did not. The next time he did it, I stood up grabbed my chair, hit him over the head, and beat the tar out of him. I got suspended for 3 days. So did he. That group never messed with me again. Neither did anyone else.

Regardless of what some people say....Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Times are different now. Back then, even the teachers knew what a bully he was and did not hold it against me.

The term "unfortunately I've had to physically address the situation," is appropriate here. I know some believe that violence is never the answer and maybe it isn't. Sometimes it is what it takes. Could I have done things differently? Yes, probably. Would that have been a better way? I am not so sure.

I agree. There are times when you just can't get away. It should be the last option but it does get you some respect. Many times the bully has underestimated your resolve and are many times cowards.
I actually had a kid come to my house and call me out. My mother told me to go out and take care of him. I was inclined not to but she said he will alawys bother you. I smacked him in the face once and we became friends a few months later. That was also in fgront of a girl he was trying to impress. I got some flak frrom his mother but it died down.

BigHit in your situation I would have fought the suspension on the grounds that the school failed to protect you from the slap in the nhead after the teacher noticed it.
Here they have laws dealing with Bullys. You should not have had to resort to dfending yourself.

God: What are you doing now?
King Arthur: Averting our eyes, oh Lord.
God: Well, don't. It's just like those miserable psalms, always so depressing. Now knock it off!

King of Swamp Castle: Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

God: Every time I try to talk to someone it's "sorry this" and "forgive me that" and "I'm not worthy"...

French Soldier: I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I **** in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Sir Galahad: Is there someone else up there we can talk to?
French Soldier: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.


Sir Lancelot: We were in the nick of time. You were in great peril.
Sir Galahad: I don't think I was.
Sir Lancelot: Yes, you were. You were in terrible peril.
Sir Galahad: Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.
Sir Lancelot: No, it's too perilous.
Sir Galahad: Look, it's my duty as a knight to sample as much peril as I can.
Sir Lancelot: No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on.
Sir Galahad: Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?
Sir Lancelot: No. It's unhealthy.
Sir Galahad: I bet you're ***.
Sir Lancelot: Am not.

Having been on the receiving end of some vicious and honestly well conceived verbal and visual taunting in high school and college, it is very hard to control your emotions. However, as a player, you must be able to tune it out, otherwise it affects your entire game. If you allow it to affect your emotions and game, they have accomplished exactly what they set out to do.
As an athlete, your retaliations (sp?) will be dealt with much more severely than those who brought it on. I snapped once in my senior year on the basketball court, after enduring taunts, skits, signs etc....directed towards me, I finally broke and directed some gestures and words towards the group and took off after them in the stands. After I was thrown out of the game, met with my principal and superintendent, I had to sit out my final home basketball game in high school. Wasn't worth it! Having senior night in dress clothes and watching your teammates get to take the court without you after 4 years blows! Not to mention how much respect people lose for you as a person and athlete!

Now, there are situtations in life where you have to take a stand, bullies, self defense, and defending someone not capable of defending themselves are a few. I have been in these situations before and I have no problem opening up a can of whoop a@@.....But like my daddy always told me, "son, one day your are gonna meet someone tougher and meaner and he was going to beat you senseless." I haven't met him yet, but I know he is out there, ought to be a good one when we meet!

In sports you will always get taunts but you can't let that bother you. Brawls occur even in college . Some programs will push the boundaries just to get you rattled. You have to ignor it. No excuse for going into the stands.

The question is kind of loaded, in that it asks if I have ever "had to" take physical action.

There were times as a young boy that I was provoked verbally into hitting someone. But in all honesty, though I did it, I didn't "have to".

As a parent, I think it's appropriate to teach that you should not respond physically unless you are acting defensively (irrespective, in my mind, of who hits first, because sometimes you can tell that you're about to be hit first if you don't act).

It's also appropriate, when your child falls short of that mark, to consider extenuating circumstances before meting out any punishment you deem appropriate.

It's a reality that things that authorities tolerated 30 years ago will result in severe punishments today. Ignoring that reality would be stupid. It is therefore not hypocritical to ask your own son to meet a behavior standard that is expected today, even if you yourself may not have met that standard. Even if you think today's standard is stupid and wrong, you need to make clear to your son that there are powers you do not control and that he must meet today's standards, or else.

I also think you have to be very careful in what you express to your son is "understandable" or OK. Because if you let him think that physical response to verbal abuse is OK, the bar has been lowered quite a bit, and you may be surprised to find that he's out there slugging someone who barely said boo to him.

There's a big difference between someone getting red faced while nose to nose with you, and you giving them a shove on the one hand, and you throwing fists at someone who calls you a name from 20 feet away. To me, the first response is understandable and I probably would not punish it, but there is no excuse for the second situation.

Getting taunts from fans or opposing players is not an excuse to get in a fight. I would never advocate going into the stands to retaliate for verbal taunts.

However, if someone physically assaults you, you must defend yourself. If you have a friend or teammate who gets physically assaulted, you should assist.

While you are on the field, any outside interference should be ignored, no ifs, ands, or buts. Off the field, someone hits or pushes you, a reaction/defense is completely justified.

I've been doing some thinking.

I know this may be met with much resistance:

I'm just not sure a HSBBW public message board should be giving advice to children/young adolescents about when to use physical force or when to take a physical stand.

Other than stating what the law/rules say,....

opinions as to what is acceptable and what is not, is a moral/personal choice which can have heavy consequences attached to it.

Just my humble opinion, but I personally think it may be best to allow the parents/caretakers of young individuals to guide them on this subject.


Just my two cents.
Over and out.
( curtsey )

Point taken ssmom.

My take about giving advise and opinions on this site which I shared with a distinguished poster was....

The best advice for high schoolers is honesty and the truth. If we want them to see one side then we put blinders on them and write golden rules with no latitude. IMO Part of growing up is seeing the big picture, judging actions, and picking the right path by observing the ideas of ol' furts like us. Good will prevail for those who see straight and think. I feel this forum is loaded with people with great thoughts that do not always agree. A great classroom chocked full of adults who have raised successful kids.

Also, a physical stand doesn't necessarily mean a whoopin'. A firm that talking to, a piercing stare, even a 1x1 phone call can be perceived as a physical stand. In many cases turning the other cheek may only promote verbal abuse by others and a free pass for the "mouth" to continue his abuse.

I am 100% in agreement with Midlodad's post. The same for ssm and kevin11.
IMO, it's about empowerment, it's more empowering to look the bully in the eye, say what you want, laugh or smile but the winner in teh situation is the one who walks away.
Unfortunetly my son was physically assaulted by a drunken roomate this summer who barged into his room at 4am, called him names (strong referenece to to his skin color), college education and his draft number. After hearing enough verbal abuse and player in his face, son lost it it and tried to remove drunken roomate from HIS room with a shove. Bad decision. He suffered a concussion, black eye, swollen ear, swollen elbow and maybe why his shoulder didn't heal well from what was considerd and diagnosed bursitis. He was told by police he had every right to file charges, he didn't have to, the player was given a plane ticket to return home the next day. It took weeks for son to look normal, more rehab, and finally a trip to the surgeon to see why his shoulder kept feeling uncomfortable, scope, more rehab. Essentially a setback in his career this season. The other player got picked up by another team a few weeks later, my son spent the whole summer in rehab. Who was the winner in this situation? Who was the loser? Yes, police said son had every right to defend himself and his space, but what "point" was made?
He got a wrist slapping from his organization which included a demotion. He was told he should have walked away. He was told he was smarter than that. He had the power to control the situation and he did not. Never having a fight in his life, not feeling he did anything wrong, he manned up to it, and he will never do anything like that again.

Some websters here know about the situation, I didn't have to say anything but I have posted this for our young readers to understand that as athletes, you have a lot more to lose than a fight.

Keep your temper in check. You don't have to turn the other cheek, you don't have to be macho, you just have to be smart.

I'll go along with shortstopmom in that it really is up to the parents to teach their kids how to deal with these types of situations. Personally, I was not trying to give a kid advice, just voicing my opinion. Parents should parent their own kids. I would never presume to give someone elses kid advice on this subject (among others). Quite frankly, didn't even think about the kids themselves reading this.

I will also say every situation demands its own response. Hopefully, we can bring each of our own children up in such a way that they deal with these types of situations in an appropriate way. Even as a parent, it is tough to make the call as we are not there and directly faced with the situation.

quote:

Keep your temper in check. You don't have to turn the other cheek, you don't have to be macho, you just have to be smart.

I agree with this as well and goes into what I was talking about with raising our children to handle the situations they face in an appropriate way.

Midlo, Very good post. While we should never teach nor promote a physical response, circumstances will usually dictate what a young man does under duress. I really don't believe its even fair for a woman to comment on this particular subject. I only say that because you have never been a young man and had your everyday threatened and your manhood questioned. While I would personally make my mark early on with the bully crowd, my own son was taught how to handle himself, and then required to use extreme caution and wise judgement before getting involved in a physical altercation. He had one fight during 16 yrs of school and he was caught (never good) and served a 2 day suspension even though he was originally the victim. I as an adult have always taught ball players to tune out the opposition and give it back to them on the field. Walk soft, carry a big stick.

Once an antagonizer appears to be ready to get physical, then all bets are off. I would never want my kid to start a fight but I wouldn't expect him to stand around to be somebody's punching bag and receive the first punch either.

While not promoting violence, sometimes you have to get into a fight and get it over with and move on.

[/QUOTE]I agree with this as well and goes into what I was talking about with raising our children to handle the situations they face in an appropriate way.[/QUOTE]

JMO, but when posting your first thoughts should always be about who is reading and that may be a young player.

I am not sure I get the 10 years either. I have never seen in HS, kids be jealous of one another, in fact, I have seen more support than anything between them. I have never seen it on son's college team either. One parent was a bit put off because their player lost his start, but that was between him and the coaches. Other than that we all supported each other and each other's players regardless of position.


Parents are a different issue though.

TPM.. I'm sure sorry your son had to go thru that. A kid I coached went to college and had a similar thing happen to him. It ended up being a real nightmare on several levels.

Coachric

quote:

I really don't believe its even fair for a woman to comment on this particular subject. I only say that because you have never been a young man and had your everyday threatened and your manhood questioned.

Its a fact that woman also have their dignity, pride, and self-respect threatened/questioned.

Bullying/taunting is not gender specific.

John Bernard Books (The Shootist):
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them."

Ringo Kid (Stagecoach):
"Well, there are some things a man just can't run away from."

Tom Doniphon (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance):
"Out here a man settles his own problems."

Capt. Rockwell Torrey (In Harm's Way):
"All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be some place else."

Marshall J.D. Cahill (Cahill, U.S. Marshall):
"Cause even grown men need understanding."


I learned all I need to Know about how to handle myself,
From the Duke. EH

I hope no one is promoting fighting on a hs web site

There are 2 kinds of fights school yard fighting and what I call Man fights.
Man fights are vicious and some one usually gets badly hurt....This type of fighting is happing younger and younger. The school yard is becoming a dangerous place. Schools don't send students down to the principle any more they call the police and the fighters are arrested on assault charges.

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
TPM.. I'm sure sorry your son had to go thru that. A kid I coached went to college and had a similar thing happen to him. It ended up being a real nightmare on several levels.

Thank you very much.

If you walk away nothing bad happens except a bruised ego and that will heal as well. If you are worried that some guy / girl who is in your face calling you a such and such then you are too thin skinned. Your real friends know if you are a such and such and those are the ones you need to impress. Everyone else - who cares what they think.

Now that being said it is the hardest thing in the world to do. Adrenaline gets pumping and it throws everything in your head out of whack. That face burning sensation you feel when embarassed just ticks you off to no end. Honestly I am not very good at it.

My freshman year in college I was in the girls dorm just hanging out and a guy who was my team mate came into the suite I was. He starts telling these girls all kinds of lies and stuff trying to do immoral things with them. These girls were pretty good friends of mine so I called him out on it. He was pretty embarassed and left. Later in the night I was back in my dorm in another team mates room. He comes in and starts dog cussing me and getting into my face. Now I am and have always been a pretty big boy and he wasn't. I was around 6 feet 225 lbs and he was about 5'11 and 170 lbs.

I never entertained thoughts of fighting him because I knew I would wipe the floor with him and honestly he was that guy on the team NOBODY liked. He talked a great game but couldn't back it up and criticized everyone but never blamed himself. I kept trying to walk away and ignoring him but he kept going and going and going but he wouldn't cross the line. The other guys in the room were telling him to chill out and leave me alone - he kept going.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to send him a message without getting into a fight. I took him and slammed him into the wall and got into his face. I very calmly told him to leave me alone and back down. I let him go and he left the room. I thought it was over. Later on in my room he comes back in and starts again. This time it was just me and him and he sucker punches me when I was trying to leave the room. I was wearing glasses at the time and he hit me in them and shattered the lens and cut my face up pretty badly and blacked my eye.

I beat him down like a dog and I was going to hurt him. It took 5 of my team mates to pull me off of him. For some reason the coach did absolutely nothing to him or me. I was ready to be kicked off the team but it never happened. He and I got to where we worked together on the field but that was it.

That is another thing you have to teach your kids if they do have to fight is to know when to quit. At some point it goes from self defense to assault if they don't quit once they have the uppper hand. I am pretty sure if my buddies didn't pull me off I would not have stopped because I was so mad over getting hit, losing my glasses and possibly having the lens from glasses cut my eye up (I was lucky a few cuts around my eye was all I got).

Everyone said I did what I had to do but was there something else I could have done? I'm not sure and I'm not proud that I beat up a team mate but I don't know what else I could have down even 16 years later.

I am not sure if anyone got my point.
Yes, it's hard to turn away. But it's easier to get hurt and if you are playing a sport you may be sh*t out of luck forever.

So you fought in HS and had to miss one or two games. That's easy stuff. In college you might get thrown off the team, or as in my example also thrown off your pro team or hurt so you can't play. Is that worth two minutes of "I got to take care of business" attitude.

In my son's freshman year , one of his teammates was killed by another freshman. He had his hands in his pockets and was cold cocked by this idiot. He fell backwards and hit his head on the concrete walk way in front of his dorm. The idiot then proceeded to kick him senseless then walked awy only to return moments later to finish the job. He died from brain hemorage . Blood was coming from his ear and mouth. Noone intervined. It went on infront of 25 people who were all petrified.
Although I understand I think kids should be taught to defend themselves. Knowing right from wrong and what is excessive physical retaliation is what I taught my son. I have always taken a defensive stance when approached by a possible assailant.
My son has never been attacked but did push a guy off his friend who was being beaten by a bully. The bully backed down and took off.
I had opportunities to fight and talked my way out of the problem except that one time in England. I was attacked and the attacker paid the price. I tried to walk away and it was impossible.
Learn to defend yourself and always take a defensive stance. Talk until you have no other option.
It is amazing how tolerant you can be if you know you can defend yourself.

BHD,
I remember that, why did everyone stand around watching?
We had a situation here similar many years ago, they knocked out someone cold and then kicked him to death. At a party with too much drinking. Everyone watched while this went on.

IMO, there is a difference between defending yourself when being physically assaulted vs. taking a first punch when verbally taunted. That is when you should walk away.

quote:

So you fought in HS and had to miss one or two games. That's easy stuff. In college you might get thrown off the team, or as in my example also thrown off your pro team or hurt so you can't play. Is that worth two minutes of "I got to take care of business" attitude.

As you get older that part of your brain kicks in and you realize the fighting does not pay, the pain doesn't go away as quick, and the legal/litigation processes becomes more of a reality. I don't care if you're playing pro baseball player or selling shoes at the mall, you finally figure out the day job has importance, and the ramifications have more of a reality. In HS it's amazing what testosterone does to a young man who doesn't know how to control it.

However, regardless of what the "turn the other cheek" faction says, I'll bet every son on this site, regardless of age, would respond if a serious verbal assault was directed at MOM. I personally know one RHP pacifist who would would turn southpaw in a second if there was no apology made for someone rippin his momma. My point is that while common sense says walk away, there are situations where common sense takes a back seat..that is called human nature, and it is unpredictable.

Guess for me, it goes back to the ol' " sticks and stones " saying.

If MOM doesnt over react and act like a wet noodle over the verbal assault you speak of in your example above, then why should the pacifist turn south paw?

Does this pacifist go southpaw if someone cuts his mom off on the freeway and flings her the birdie?

Give MOM some credit. She's probably pretty capable of handling words, as ugly as they can be, that are thrown up into the air.

If more adults would chillax and not be so hot on the trigger to turn on a dime & go off about the simple things in this already stressful everyday world,
then perhaps they could lead by example and our youth would follow what they see.

I'm guessing the original thread that splintered off ( and was a possible reason you started this one) was titled " jealous kids and parents ".

Its the " parents " role in both of these threads that strikes a chord with me.

I agree that human nature can sometimes be unpredictible, but I also believe we can teach/learn
that we have choices on how we react to those circumstances.

Some call it " turning the other cheek ".
I call it self control.

On the HSBBW we constantly hear from parents that are upset about what is being said in the stands between other parents. Who's better than who, why isn't their son playing instead of another?, etc. etc.

They come to the boards pretty hot around the collar.
Many of us can relate because we have gone through the same thing at one point in time.

After a while though, many of us learn,....and we decide to move away from the " verbal taunting " and go sit down the third/first base line or out in CF.
We learn that although we may be sitting a little farther away, we can actually see the game, the true game, a little bit clearer and the mindless/worthless distractions ( aka: verbal taunts ) become absolete.

Is this turning the cheek? Or self control?
Perhaps a little of both.

Whatever one chooses to call it, most of the time for me, it works and the the world/ballgame is a little more peaceful/enjoyable because of it.

quote:

Give MOM some credit. She's probably pretty capable of handling words, as ugly as they can be, that are thrown up into the air.

MOM gets all the credit, plus some.

If a son was sitting with some friends, mom wasn't around, and I would walk up to him and say "I know your mom, she's a bottom sukking, brainless *$#&@!. I remember when she.................then I heard she................. What a loser, when she was born they should have broke the mold so that reproduction was not an option.

I would be surprised if any competitive young man was not in my face before I finished taunting him.

I know the thread is "baseball taunt" related, however, some rules go away when you're talking MOM and family.

Mom would probably want him to walk away, but could he?

Everyday is Mothers Day.

JMO, but aren't we getting off track here? I would not doubt that anyone would rush to defend comments about MOM, but the smart thing would be to address the situation and walk away.

I am not sure I understand this, lots of verbal lashing about mama is not something the young kids around here do or come up against. Lots of those comments generate from backgrounds most of our kids are not familiar with. I am not sure what son would do, he's never been in that situation and personally I never prepared him for it. It's nothing something as a youngster he would have faced.

The original topic from the other thread was about jeolousy, not about the strong preying upon the weak, and whether the player handled himself correctly and now the parent was concerned because the player signed a letter. IMO, he didn't because when you have something to lose that you have worked very hard for most of your life, you need to stop and think about the consequences. That may be anywhere from getting badly hurt or losing what you worked for. Most youngsters don't stop and think about the consequences, so it's our responsibility to teach them why you keep the testosterone in check.

And I am still wondering why there was 10 years of this going on. Something has been going on that we are not aware of, not sure if it is all jealousy.

JMO.

quote:

JMO, but aren't we getting off track here?

I don't think so. This may have evolved a little away from the topic, where I also have questions about the 8-10 year time frame.

With that said jealously, teasing, personal insults are what we adults call "childlike" so to think kids don't go there is not reality IMHO.

Years ago there was a boy in our league who was a nice player, his mom suffered from depression and when was stable was shunned by parents because she was "medicated" The comments from a few of the kids may have been in jest but they were cruel and because the kid was out numbered and the abusers were a year older he reverted into a shell to point I feel he lost his will. The comments went from his mom to him being his as pin-up boy for verbal abuse in every direction. Looking back I feel that if the boy would have stood up and faced the "mouths" not only would he have brought it out in the open but also the adults would have figured out what was going on. At the time we had no idea what was going on because those are things kids don't share with adults because teasing and bullying are a part of growing up.

Parents on this board may not realize that because our kids were probably bigger, stronger, with a support group where nobody dared mess with them.

I think that there is no excuse for reacting physically due to verbal taunts.
I also think that you talk your way out of any situation you can. There are lots of whackos out there and people wiyh short fuses. I have always taught my some to avoid controntation. When his teammate was killed I reminded him how things can get ugly very quick. I also tell him to be prpared to defend himself. You have to judje the situation and always get out of there if you can. The problem is that aggressive peole see that as cowardice and it often escalates the situation. Admit you are a coward and walk. I have been there and had to deck the guy. It worked beautifully and noone ever bothered me again.

I think RZ1 and I am going to have to respectfully agree to disgree about this subject.

I'm going to stick to my belief that there is no justified reason for one to react by " taking a physical stand " because of a verbal taunt.

Testoserone, manhood, unpredictable human nature, pressing certain buttons/topics.......jabs about someone's momma, etc. etc.
In my eyes, there are no excuses or exceptions to take a physical stand because a verbal taunt simply doesnt warrant physical action.
Mindless verbal gibberish is gibberish. Kind of a waste of time/energy imho.
Verbal taunting is only as big as you allow it to be in your mind. Words can hurt, but consider the source and that perhaps might take some of their power away.

A physical stand is not the answer.
Exercise self control.

Parents, we must all talk to our children. We need to teach them right from wrong,...and hopefully while doing so, we can also teach them compassion for one another.

RZ your example of:

quote:

his mom suffered from depression and when was stable was shunned by parents because she was"medicated"

....again, ...as I have stated before, it is the parents and adults behavior that strikes a chord with me.
Those parents/adults who shunned this player's mom set the stage. I see no reason for a child to have to think he/she needs to clean up a mess that an adult caused when they acted insenitive to a fellow parent.
Apparantly the kids picked up on the poor parental behavior of this woman pretty darn quick and they mirrored that behavior.

Again,..if adults would be a little kinder, a little less quick on the trigger, &
set the example, perhaps the youth would follow.

I believe competitivness and sportsmanship go hand in hand.

For now, I am going to respectfully disagree with RZ. We each have our own opinions about this subject, and instead of spinning in circles, I am going to take a walk down the first base line, spare the rest of you my ramblings,...and move on to another subject.

Its been an interesting discussion and I have appreciated everyones thoughts.

quote:

Admit you are a coward and walk.

BHD,
ouch

That's a hard message for a kid to decipher because on one side of our mouth we say don't back down competitively, and the other side we say admit you're a coward and walk away. As an adult I understand the differences in situations, but, that's a tough one for a kid to breakdown and apply. Kids seem to practice what is repeated more often.

Then as a dad I would say that I emphasized being tough and "stand up" on the field and very seldom did I say "walk away" because I didn't have to. The kid who is more dedicated to the "arts" instead of athletics will probably understand that "walk away" mentality more so than the athlete.

All you need to do is have a couple guns pulled on you to appreciate that there are times to walk away. This is not kids stuff. I have seen kids stabbed, beat senseless and for no real reason.
One of my son's friends was at a party and he was one tough kid. He hammered some guy and a couple hours later the guy with several friends jumped him after the party. He was hospitalized for 3 weeks and suffered brain injury and almost lost an eye.
This is not about being a coward. More about being smart. My son was not allowed to go to parties and had to call us if his friends were drinking to bring him home. It doesn't take much to get a situation to escalate.
Taking that view doesn't mean that you are a coward and stop you from defending yourself in an extrme situation.

quote:

All you need to do is have a couple guns pulled on you to appreciate that there are times to walk away. This is not kids stuff.

Common sense says pick-n-choose your battles. I hope I'm not coming across as promoting thuggery, I'm just saying that part of growing up is standing up for yourself and your values and sometimes that involves stepping outside the box but at the same understanding who sits outside that box.

It is unfortunately true...sometimes all they know is a "leg of lamb in the mouth!"

Common sense doesnt have x-ray vision which is the only thing I know of that can reveal a hidden weapon.

Picking and choosing your battles is kinda the same as playing russian roulette. Pretty darn risky if you ask me.

As you said yourself RZ, human nature is unpredictable. No one can ever be completely sure of who/what sits outside the box.
( or who carries a weapon )

Is a verbal taunt worth the risk?
I say nay.
Walk away.

( My last words,..I swear, well kind of a pinky-1/2 swear. Guess I hadnt made it completely down to the first baseline. Perhaps I'd better stroll to CF- ha! )

SSM,
It looks like I'll be meeting you in the parking lot after school...............for a soda and a little kum-by-ya.

Ehhhh???? What's that RZ????

I can't hear ya cause I'm stuck out in CF wearing a straight jacket.

Not alot of kum-by-ya,...but I do have plenty of seeds & home made cookies I'd be willing to share with ya!