What would you have done with this guy

I was sitting at Universal City Walk in Hollywood waiting for my wife to finish her half marathon. I was up all morning since 5 am.

Some old dude came to me and asked me to borrow a phone. I said no.

His replied, "You are a nice gentleman, hope you die!". He turned away and walked.

Should I have gone up and beat the crap out of him? He said that with my 5 year old son sitting on my lap. To be honest, my thought process was slow since I was sitting for so long and sort of tired.

Not to be mean, but several years ago some guy asked to borrow a phone at the county fair which I let. Within a few seconds I realized he dialed a bogus number and yanked the phone back and he ran away.

 

i would have just laughed and looked the other way.

i find that not only feels better but makes the offender feel like a complete insignificant tool

 

choose your battles wisely my friend.

as, it's not against the law to be and asshole...however, it is against the law to assault one.

 

Dudes wishing death one someone because they wouldnt let a stranger use their cell phone? Wonder who pissed in his cornflakes.


I would have said something sarcastic in reply, not really worth getting into a fight unless the other party gets physical or really, really steps over the line.

 

and if it happens again and the biggest problem you had with the situation was that your kid was present, just look at you kid and let him know in a funny way that that guy was a douche canoe(different phrases of course). those are the random lessons that kids remember for a long time (the little almost insignificant ones). or i know those are the ones i held onto.

 

No one uses my phone.

 

excellent post.

remain calm, and use the circumstances as a teaching moment for the urchin.

 

I remember...back in the day, when cell phones were new and attached to the vehicle...

lending use in an emergency a time or two.

but, nowadays...if you are an adult and do not have one, there may be other issues...so, sorry I agree with Steve. It would have to be a serious emergency...and I'd have to feel the reason was sincere.

 

It's amazing how many times I heard "Hey, man use your phone?" when I lived in a large city. "Lemme use your phone!" in many places is the same as the older "Hey man, gotta light?" -- they just want to get you close enough to rob you.

If someone really needs a phone in an emergency they will always tell you what the emergency is -- you can hardly get them to shut up about it, babbling on is a natural response to stress.

 

This is something I think I would do as well mainly because I would not believe someone would say that.

True so very true. There are greater tragedies in life. Trust me it is not worth it to engage with an individual this ignorant.

 

i would beat the hell out of him you dont wish death upon a young father with his son right there. some people in this world should be shot.

 

I would have told him that I hope he lives long enough to get his own phone.lol

 

eh, its a phone. who cares.

 

not something to fight about.

but agree now one uses my phone. hell i don’t let allot of my friends use or even touch my phone.

 

You did the right thing my not stooping to his level! You also provided a good example to your son the correct way to handle a tense situation. I have a three year old son, they track and repeat almost everything.

 

you did it right, your son will see that you were the better man by not acting like and idiot and yelling some stupid remark back at him or worse yet beating the crap out of him

 

Thanks guys. I feel much better that I did the right thing. I asked my son if he heard the conversation and he told me no ( I guess he was falling asleep).

I told my wife later and she was more upset than me. She was going to confront that man (he was with another lady). I told her to forget it.

 

I had a similar situation happen at a movie theater. Some random lady came up to my wife and I and asked to use my cell phone. She claimed to have lost her's in the theater and her husband was looking for it and wanted to use my phone to call hers so it would ring and her husband could find it easily. I gave her a strange look and said "sorry I don't lend out my phone". She left pretty quickly. I don't know if she really needed my help or was trying to steal my phone, but I wasn't gonna find out. Too many shady people in this world today.

 

In a few days you will forget about him and it won't bother you no more. Kind of like a pimple on your ass that is a pain but, once it's gone, you forget about it!

Peace!