“What are you looking at, you fat c–t?” I was walking down the street and had turned around to see where all the noise was coming from. Of course, it was coming from the bloke who called me a fat c–t because I had turned around to find out where all the noise was coming from.
I admit to being fat. The accuracy of the other descriptor is subjective, I suppose, but it is undoubtedly offensive to many people. So, what right does this bloke have to shout that phrase very loudly in a public place?
And what right does anybody have to verbally attack a random stranger for no reason other than the way they respond to a stimulus (in this case, the sound of shouting in the street and the sense that something was going on behind me)?
None. And yet we are surrounded by threatening noises every day. On the streets and even on the airwaves, our ears are assaulted by the sounds of anger.
Shock jocks get all shouty when they are trying to dominate the “conversation” (which must always be about them and their opinions). Politicians scream insults across the aisles. Children abuse each other in the playground, and adults verbally assault strangers in the street.
Don’t argue with
an angry person
As a child, I was told to be polite to others, especially my elders. And while I do occasionally get emotional these days, I usually just smile graciously and keep my opinions quietly to myself. (On social media, however, it’s sometimes a different story, but I do try to be respectful when I express an opinion.)
There’s no point in even trying to argue with an angry person — even if he or she is sober, which the man in the street in my initial anecdote certainly was not — because they are no longer thinking rationally.
But let me just say this: I hate this culture of shouting down another person being the default position in lieu of rational discussion. In fact, it makes me want to scream. To myself, of course.
