Dear A-Hole on the Bus; An open letter from me to you

[Zincwarrior]

thats weird and rude. Why would you even want to stand up?

[NEPAKevin]

[fishing]

This happened this morning on the bus I take to the office...

(in response to the OP, not the other comments in this thread).

Robert - I am not attacking you, just sharing my thoughts.

I wasn't there when this incident that affected you happened, don't know all the details and never will.

Things in my life have been greatly improved both personally and for those around me when I started to let things that don't really affect me, not affect me.

What if the "hipster douchebag" was going through some shit of his own, subjectively worse than what the man visiting his son was going through?

Probably unlikely, and I don't know if that would excuse his behavior, attitudes and action.

However we don't know and honestly I'd recommend using the experience as motivation to continue to contribute positivity to the world, rather than let it fuel your hatred of humans.

[Hambo]

What if the "hipster douchebag" was going through some shit of his own, subjectively worse than what the man visiting his son was going through?

Is that an excuse to act like a dick? I guess I've reached the point in life where I'm more likely to tell somebody to stop acting like a dick to other people in line, checkout girls, or whoever. Not calling people out for being assholes encourages obnoxious behavior.

[fishing]

Is that an excuse to act like a dick?

No.

I guess I've reached the point in life where I'm more likely to tell somebody to stop acting like a dick to other people in line, checkout girls, or whoever.

My life happiness has improved greatly upon realizing the following -

I can't fix everything.
Some, perhaps many people in the world are assholes.
Some of the most difficult things to change are character traits and personality/attitude.
Never make a decision based on emotion, if possible.
Publicly trying to prove my moral or value superiority is purely egotistical and psychologically is more often than not rooted in a desire to show off.
If faced with the choice between talking down to someone (the asshole) or building someone up (the checkout girl or other "victim"), I should choose the latter.

Not calling people out for being assholes encourages obnoxious behavior.

Often times, calling out people for being assholes is not productive, and is obnoxious behavior in and of itself.

If it's a matter of public safety, of course I'll intervene, within reason and based on judgement.

If I'm behind someone in the checkout lane who is being nasty to the cashier over a simple mistake for example, I realize that chastising the nasty person is not productive, and would rather tell the cashier something genuine along the lines of "I'm sorry that person was such a jerk, I think you are doing just fine." after the nasty person leaves.

[El Cid]

I was sitting, near the front of the bus. Asshole was standing, in the aisle, blocking it entirely with his backpack and body, with earbuds jammed into his ears as we reached a bus stop. He was oblivious to all other people near him. There were a number of open seats on the bus. Including the one right next to me, where he could have sat down, he chose not to. The Man going to his Son was sitting on the bus nearer the front door than the rear. He pulled the cord to signal a stop and then rose and headed for the door in advance of the next bus stop. He tried to step past the Asshole, twice. Said excuse me, twice, and finally tapped the young man on the shoulder. That's when Asshole said, "Exit at the Rear!" - Despite the fact that no one else was standing and he was blocking the gentleman from reaching the forward (and nearer) exit to the bus. The gentleman politely, but more firmly said, "EXCUSE ME." - At which point asshole rolled his eyes and flopped down into the empty seat next to me.

The man stopped and spoke with the bus driver and we trundled on to the next stop about 1/4-mile nearer the hospital and only a 35-second drive. I stood up moments after Asshole flopped down, in preparation of my exit at the next stop and overhead the conversation of the man and bus driver.

Incredible! Hipster needs a lesson none of us can legally provide him.

[fishing]

Incredible! Hipster needs a lesson none of us can legally provide him.

Why?
Would the type response you're alluding to be legal in the united states?

(edited to add the below)

What if the "victim" here (the man visiting his son) is not a victim at all, and is only perceived to be a victim by you based on your own feelings?
What if he is a tough motherfucker who doesnt give a shit about what the douchebag was saying?

Who is being harmed in such a scenario?

[CMG]

If you want to really hurt a hipster you need to hit them in an obscure place you probably have never heard of.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[El Cid]

Why?
Would the type response you're alluding to be legal in the united states?

(edited to add the below)

What if the "victim" here (the man visiting his son) is not a victim at all, and is only perceived to be a victim by you based on your own feelings?
What if he is a tough motherfucker who doesnt give a shit about what the douchebag was saying?

Who is being harmed in such a scenario?

Because the hipster doofus needs to get knocked on his ass. Time was his parents would've done so at a younger age when he was disrespectful. Now we have a generation of losers who believe they are entitled to anything they want the instant they want it. And in my experience it's impossible to reason with them. Yes I'm generalizing but even as an adult if either of my parents saw me behave that way toward anyone I could (and should) expect to be corrected on the spot - no matter how bad a day I may be having.

[fishing]

Because the hipster doofus needs to get knocked on his ass. Time was his parents would've done so at a younger age when he was disrespectful. Now we have a generation of losers who believe they are entitled to anything they want the instant they want it. And in my experience it's impossible to reason with them. Yes I'm generalizing but even as an adult if either of my parents saw me behave that way toward anyone I could (and should) expect to be corrected on the spot - no matter how bad a day I may be having.

I'm all for solving problems when they need to be solved.
I agree that this current generation (however it can be defined) coming up has some particular shared issues, problems and perhaps one can even say defects.

I don't think violence is a productive or efficient solution though.
You yourself seem to be admitting that violence may have worked on previous generations to nip some issues at the bud, but where I'd disagree is that it would be the answer for another set of folks who are motivated, value and respond to different things.

If you can find me some hard repeatable evidence that whupin a millenial so to speak works, let me know.
I'm not interested in one off anecdotes.

Broadly speaking, you or I can't solve problems unless we understand them, I'm not sure that you understand what has gone wrong or changed.

thx