What would you do if this happened, re: Fighting?

Question

Alright I was at the movies on Saturday. I had a child about 8 ask me if the seat next to me was taken. He whispered it. As I turned to answer him an older man behind me says to the child, 'SHHHHH, YOU BE QUIET!' Very rudely & uncalled for the movie hadn't even started yet. Well, I shook my head at the old man, then turned to the child & said, 'No it's not taken & of course you can have it.'

Haha fun begins his dad is walking down the isle & says to the older man, 'Hey you shut up, don't talk to my kid that way!' He says this while getting in the older guys face. Then the old man starts hitting him a fight breaks out between the two of them. Now the younger guy is standing over you to hit the older guy. Nobody is doing anything no security is coming in there is a bunch of teenagers (chanting fight, fight, fight…) & children in the theater. You being a small girl (if your not a small girl pretend you are) what do you do?

This is what I did, I stood up in-between the too of them forcing the apart & told them to sit down & chill out, in a tone just below a bellow. They kept trying to antagonize each other after sitting down, so I spent the rest of the movie explaining to each of them that they were way out of line, acting like children & to stop embarrassing their wives. I guess eventually it got through to them because they went there separate ways at the end of the movie & left each other alone. But here’s the deal, I got in trouble with my mom & my friend. My friend was with me & told my mom what happened. According to them I put myself in a lot of danger, that I never should have been in. So I asked them, how would you have handled the situation then, neither of them has an answer, so I was hoping you guys could give me a good one. (I just got off the phone with my mom, or I should say my mom just finished yelling at me.)

My mom's parting words were, 'Just wait until your dad hears about this!' Crazy my dad's had me in boxing since I was 16 years old. That's almost 10 years now.

The problem is because of how I was being stood over, and how crowded the theater was I would have been in more danger of being hit trying to move out of the way or staying put then standing striaght up & defensively blocking them both with my arms, and pushing them away from each other. My intial reaction was for my own safety, pull them apart or quickly be caught in the middle of a battle that was becoming very violent.

Answer 1

I think you certainly did a pretty gutsy thing. You said that you are a small girl. I'm not sure exactly how small you are. But to get between two guys who are fighting was pretty bold on your part. Though, you were putting yourself in danger to an extent. You could have gotten yourself hurt--your mom and sister are right about that. I see that you have been in boxing for a while. I'm sure you're a pretty tough chick. But some guys out there can hit pretty hard. Though, it sounds like you had an effect on these guys, since you managed to break them up.

I don't necessarily think that what you did was bad; and I don't necessarily think that it was good, either. It is a gray area. But I can't help but admire your boldness in this situation. And it does sound like you took control of things pretty well.

Have you ever considered going into law enforcement---if you're not there already?

Answer 2

Yes, I understand that you wanted to help the child, and that is fine. When the father was coming over you to get to the older guy, I think both you and the child should have slid over as far as possible, away from the fight. Yes your safety was at risk, no you didn't need to put in your two words after the fray was over and people were watching the movie. Security at the movie should have demanded that old man, father, and child all leave the premises, it was very kind of you to help the child in the beginning(yes, you can sit here)but after that, your place was as far away from these idiots as possible..........yes, you could have been hurt badly.

Answer 3

I'm impressed that you stood up like that, but I agree with your mom, I think. After moving the child out of the way, management and/or calling the police would have been the right thing to do. I think it's great that you can defend yourself, but why would you want to have to? And isn't it a shame that the father is setting such a bad example for the boy?

Answer 4

What a horrible situation you found yourself in! Nice clientele at that movie theater, eh? I see why you did what you did, although in retrospect it doesn't look like such a good idea because you did expose yourself to harm. Nevertheless, good for you for telling those two bozos that they were out of line. Write a letter to the manager of the theater with a copy to the President of the chain (if it is a chain of movie theaters) and state what happened, and complain about the fact that no one from security or management came to intervene.

Answer 5

She was yelling at you because you put yourself at risk. Although you were correct in your assessment of their immaturity. You should have just moved out of the way and gone to the lobby and called management. If you had a cell phone you could have dialed
911.
Getting between 2 people fighting is like getting in between 2 fighting dogs. You never want to do that you could get bit.

Answer 6

i suppose what you did was right, but it's not how i would have handled the situation.

i would have picked up my cell phone and dialed 9 and 1 and informed both of the adult infants that i was calling the police and would happily testify against both of them.

most violent idiots don't ever ever ever ever ever want to be held accountable for fighting and would most likely stop.

if not, call the cops people who fight like that, especially the old man, belong in prison.

violent thugs belong in prison, period.

Answer 7

I think you did the right thing, because you didn't do anything immoral or illegal and it was something your heart and mind were telling you to do. You responded to a fight or flight choice and you choose to speak up for what you thought. Both of them should have chilled out. It's a movie.

Answer 8

sorry this happened to you...but, my question is why did you get invoved?

and, obviously this affected you...as, you are still carrying this with you...

what I would have done ...is mind my own business...and, left quietly, (when the smell of trouble was in the air)...and, notified the manager...and, let him/her take matters into their own hands.


ps/the younger guy sounds as a bully to tell the truth/starting up with an old angry man...

Answer 9

You should have got up and told someone working at the theatre to call security, and returned to a different seat.