The following event occurred on the MBTA Red Line Saturday night on my way back to Braintree. It is a valuable lesson on why a course such as NRA's Refuse to Be a Victim" is a valuable tool to have in one's arsenal when things go sideways but deadly force is not justified.
My Wife and I went into Boston for "Outside the Box" after my Range Duty at Braintree R&P this past Saturday afternoon. Refusing to drive into Boston, we took the T in and out.
On the way back (~9PM) the subway car was crowded and I ended up standing at a doorway.
Suddenly I hear a very loud and uncivil argument between 2 men, one in his mid-20s and the other one probably 50-60 yo. I did not see what occurred prior to the boisterous accusations, so from a perspective of "who created the problem", I have no idea. After it was all over, the one remaining person (older guy) voiced his opinion of what started it. This occurred at the other end of the car and emergency call buttons were at both ends but due to the crowd the only one I could see was very close to the two <verbal> combatants, thus unsafe for anyone to activate within view of both parties (you suddenly could get attacked by one or both). [I never noticed the second location until after the confrontation was over and the car was no longer crowded.]
I kept my eyes riveted on the two of them, in case something physical broke out. What I saw was the following:
- A number of people told them to calm down. It didn't work. When the 4-letter words started flying some folks asked them to knock off the swearing as there were a few children in the car. Didn't work either.
- There was an empty seat separating the two men. [If it was empty before the confrontation, it doesn't square with the older man's "excuse" for the confrontation. See that below.]
- Suddenly a young woman (early 20s is my guess) got up from near where I was and sat down separating the two arguing men. She did try talking them down, but I couldn't hear anything she said as I was standing too far away. They started yelling at each other over her.
- At one point one or both got up and it looked like it was going to be fists (or weapons if either had one). Luckily they both sat down and eventually lowered their yelling.
- The younger man got off with his boyfriend and then the older one ranted on about what he alleges happened. He claimed that the other man had taken up all the seats so that he didn't have a place to sit down. No idea if this was true or he just didn't like the lifestyle of the younger man??
- The young lady came back to her original seat, was very distraught and mentioned that she just couldn't let this sort of thing "happen" and broke into tears.
- Finally the 2nd man got off at his stop.
- I went over to the young lady and told her that she had done something very brave. I did NOT say "good" or "stupid" as she was in tears and rubbing it in wouldn't help.
Monday morning quarterbacking - I should have offered her a free course in Refuse to Be a Victim where she could learn that jumping into that sort of situation could have been fatal. If one of them had a knife, she likely would have been hurt. Avoiding the situation when you have no means of self-defense would have been smarter.
Perhaps she thought her good looks might convince the younger guy to just apologize and then set his attention on her. Yes, she was a good looking blond and no I didn't take any pictures. Too bad he pitched for the other team, he might have missed out on something good.
Personally I realized that I should have been carrying something more than a firearm! However the OC I carry when I work has a safety that I would never trust to carry around all the time and the tiny ones with a better safety aren't something that I would consider adequate to carry.
My Wife and I went into Boston for "Outside the Box" after my Range Duty at Braintree R&P this past Saturday afternoon. Refusing to drive into Boston, we took the T in and out.
On the way back (~9PM) the subway car was crowded and I ended up standing at a doorway.
Suddenly I hear a very loud and uncivil argument between 2 men, one in his mid-20s and the other one probably 50-60 yo. I did not see what occurred prior to the boisterous accusations, so from a perspective of "who created the problem", I have no idea. After it was all over, the one remaining person (older guy) voiced his opinion of what started it. This occurred at the other end of the car and emergency call buttons were at both ends but due to the crowd the only one I could see was very close to the two <verbal> combatants, thus unsafe for anyone to activate within view of both parties (you suddenly could get attacked by one or both). [I never noticed the second location until after the confrontation was over and the car was no longer crowded.]
I kept my eyes riveted on the two of them, in case something physical broke out. What I saw was the following:
- A number of people told them to calm down. It didn't work. When the 4-letter words started flying some folks asked them to knock off the swearing as there were a few children in the car. Didn't work either.
- There was an empty seat separating the two men. [If it was empty before the confrontation, it doesn't square with the older man's "excuse" for the confrontation. See that below.]
- Suddenly a young woman (early 20s is my guess) got up from near where I was and sat down separating the two arguing men. She did try talking them down, but I couldn't hear anything she said as I was standing too far away. They started yelling at each other over her.
- At one point one or both got up and it looked like it was going to be fists (or weapons if either had one). Luckily they both sat down and eventually lowered their yelling.
- The younger man got off with his boyfriend and then the older one ranted on about what he alleges happened. He claimed that the other man had taken up all the seats so that he didn't have a place to sit down. No idea if this was true or he just didn't like the lifestyle of the younger man??
- The young lady came back to her original seat, was very distraught and mentioned that she just couldn't let this sort of thing "happen" and broke into tears.
- Finally the 2nd man got off at his stop.
- I went over to the young lady and told her that she had done something very brave. I did NOT say "good" or "stupid" as she was in tears and rubbing it in wouldn't help.
Monday morning quarterbacking - I should have offered her a free course in Refuse to Be a Victim where she could learn that jumping into that sort of situation could have been fatal. If one of them had a knife, she likely would have been hurt. Avoiding the situation when you have no means of self-defense would have been smarter.
Perhaps she thought her good looks might convince the younger guy to just apologize and then set his attention on her. Yes, she was a good looking blond and no I didn't take any pictures. Too bad he pitched for the other team, he might have missed out on something good.
Personally I realized that I should have been carrying something more than a firearm! However the OC I carry when I work has a safety that I would never trust to carry around all the time and the tiny ones with a better safety aren't something that I would consider adequate to carry.