The problem is there is nothing to measure behavior against. At least when the 10 commandments were posted where people could read them and think, it was something to measure against, and "absolute" if you will. I know a lot of you will disagree, but when the Bible was thrown out of the schools and replaced with the next "politically correct" thing year after year, the kids don't have a clue about how to act because the people TELLING them how to act don't have a clue how to act themselves!

And when a school says YOU, the parent can not discipline your kid or it's abuse, and the kid KNOWS it, you have lost the right to raise them the right way, IMHO. A switch never killed me, but I am sure it saved me from GETTING killed a few times!

Am I the only one who thinks you should still be there beating him?

On the other hand you should have checked and apologised before he got out, I believe that walking away sparked the fuse.

Usual disclaimer, I am not giving any sort of advice, it is just my opinion, and I agree with everyone here about rise in violence and such. I simply don't like to being physically charged when no harm is done.

Trident, I didn't even know he was in the car until I walked away and he started honking his horn, got out and ran after me.

I keep replaying this scenario in my head, and I don't know what I could have done differently with this nitwit. I'm a pretty passive man, but when attacked I defend myself. I try to teach my children to talk first and be physical as a last resort.

Al

Al,
I am sorry if I offended you. Just saying that "you replayed the scene in your head" shows someone who thinks first before taking any action.
You do the right thing with your children, and you don't need me to confirm it.
Be well, I hope this nose bleeder is the last moron you meet in your life.

Oh Trident!, no offense taken at all. Actually, I appreciate your point of view. Thanks for taking the time to particpate in the discussion.

Regards,
Al

I thought it appropriate to tell what happened to my wife and I over the weekend:

As most of you know, we live here in beautiful Hilton Head, SC which has a relatively low crime rate and fantastic weather (especially now). And I have to admit, much of Hilton Head is securely behind "plantations", and yes that means the plantations of old still exist but they are now gated regimes with private guards. Which makes us a little overconfident until...

This past Sunday my wife and I went to a local public park where other families were enjoying a sunny day. My wife and I casually parked our Honda CRV in a parking lot about 4:30pm and went for a 30 minute stroll on the beach. When we got back, we found that the passenger side window was smashed and her purse and cellphone were stolen. The police called it a "smash-and-grab"... nothing else was taken but my wife's closest stuff. The cops got great fingerprints since the car was freshly washed, as if that'll do any good.

This put us through 48 hours of hell, as we frantically contacted our bank to report the stolen credit cards (they had already been used by the time we got home) and began listing everything the thieves now had access to since they got her debit cards, ID and keys. We've had to change the house locks, checking accounts, replace my wife's driver's license, change regime security codes, stop the cellphone service and replace the cellphone. We can't use our credit cards until replacements come now. My wife still has a lot of work ahead just replacing all the phone numbers and addresses in her Daytimer. The theives got away with $100 cash but that was the least of our worries.

The car should be fixed by this Friday amazingly (only the glass and trim were damaged - no paint/body damage), and we are close to secure again after two days of panic. But we'll be far more wary of public parks, even in broad daylight in the plain view of everyone. I guess we'll stay behind our security gates next time we want to walk the beach.

Me too! My Subaru Outback was broken into in front of our house,in a busy subdivision WITH THE ALARM SET...several knives, an umbrella, a tool kit and a bag with cables and mikes were stolen. The alarm never went off...it's at the dealer now for a check-out.

How sad,

Russ

Yeah ditto - my car alarm never went off and now we're going to have that checked out too.