Asymmetrical warfare?
When I was about 7 years old, I was visiting family one summer, and a 5-year old cousin kept running up to me, pushing me, and running away. I faced a delemma.
Should I "defend myself" and strike the boy, who was almost half my size? He was doing me no real harm, but I was getting annoyed with him. I demanded he stop his shenannigans. (no, I did not use the word shenanigans)
He didn't stop. He kept running up behind me, pushing me, calling me some childish name, and running away.
I mulled it over in my mind. The adults were doing an excellent job of ignoring the situation. I thought if I hit him, the adults would be angry with me. I was much bigger than he was; it would seem like I was a bully.
I got pushed one time too many, and decided to take my chances and I punched the boy in the stomach. To my dismay, the brat began to howl and cry and tell everybody how I had beaten him, how he, an innocent, undeserving waif, had been brutally attacked by a bully nearly twice his size.
Nobody was angry though, in fact the opposite was true. The adults told the brat to shut up, he had it coming, now go get lost.
Sweet vindication! Looking back now, I suppose everybody there would have liked to punch that kid, but I was the only one there who could.
Should I "defend myself" and strike the boy, who was almost half my size? He was doing me no real harm, but I was getting annoyed with him. I demanded he stop his shenannigans. (no, I did not use the word shenanigans)
He didn't stop. He kept running up behind me, pushing me, calling me some childish name, and running away.
I mulled it over in my mind. The adults were doing an excellent job of ignoring the situation. I thought if I hit him, the adults would be angry with me. I was much bigger than he was; it would seem like I was a bully.
I got pushed one time too many, and decided to take my chances and I punched the boy in the stomach. To my dismay, the brat began to howl and cry and tell everybody how I had beaten him, how he, an innocent, undeserving waif, had been brutally attacked by a bully nearly twice his size.
Nobody was angry though, in fact the opposite was true. The adults told the brat to shut up, he had it coming, now go get lost.
Sweet vindication! Looking back now, I suppose everybody there would have liked to punch that kid, but I was the only one there who could.
posted by JC at 10:00 PM
6 Comments:
Don't you think a hug would have worked better? He obviously just needed some attention.
What made you think of and blog about this incident? It is interesting.
No, a hug was not the answer.
I was thinking about how perception plays a huge role in things, and how good PR would really go a long way in helping the US "win" in Iraq. I looked up al-hurra- did you know that they don't have to follow VOA editorial standards?
I didn't think you did, so now, let me explain in a long-winded and windbaggy way...
Voice of America or VOA as we call it in the biz, has very strict editorial guidelines. They followed the model of the BBC world service, in that they report the news, as it is, and don't misreport or under-report news that isn't favorable to the US. This builds credibility in the VOA and in the long run is a very important PR tool.
The Al-Hurra network took a different approach, more like the fox news of the arab world. They are pro-USA all the time, and while that may seem to be what we need in the region, they're not really serving us in the long run. What we really need is credibility, so that when we say, "hey, we have to punch this kid in the stomach, we really don't want to, but there's no alternative," the people in the region may believe the news reports we air about it rather than the ones that air on al-jazeera. This kind of reporting only works when you have the truth on your side...
So that's how this story worked it's way into my mind, and its a funny story, dripping with allegorical content, likely to be repeated by my followers in 600 years as an excuse for child abuse.
Book of JC, 1:1
Behold, thou shalt smitest the child if the child must be smited but first thou shalt be credible in thy dealings such that none bringest reproach.
I have entirely too much time on my hands...
Everything I know about international law I learned in kindergarten.
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