Pointless Violence

Posted on 2003/01/30 11:53:04 (January 2003) by john.

Why do people do it?

About an hour ago, I was standing on the platform waiting for a tube train to arrive. As the train pulled up, I noticed in the carriage I was just about to get into were too "aggressive" looking blokes, or at least that was my prejudiced opinion of them. I considered walking down the platform and then told myself off, thinking you can't go judging people like that. So I stayed put. Sometimes, perhaps regrettably, your prejudices are correct.

As the doors opened, the larger of the two guys ran up to the door, grabbed onto the bars above the door, swang and kicked the guy standing next to me, squarely in the chest, very hard.

As far as I could tell, there was no reason for it at all, he didn't seem to know this guy at all, and the thug in question could only possibly have been looking at his chosen victim for about 5 seconds as the train pulled up, so how he could have even been offended by him in that time I have no idea. What's more, the poor guy standing next to me even said "sorry", he was so confused. Exactly the sort of thing I can imagine I would do.

The thug walked back casually and sat back in his seat on the train, and started spouting off a load of gangland bullshit "I ain't playin' no games", or some such meaningless bollocks. The poor guy who he'd just assaulted went and sat down on a bench on the platform, hurt, confused and probably really upset. I got on the train, a little further down.

One of the really frustrating things about these sorts of situations is that you feel so powerless, and you can usually only think of the correct course of action some time after the event. I considered whether I should have confronted the thug, and tried to get him to justify what he had done, but I'm not in any way good at fighting (as I learnt to the cost of a few very painful ribs a few months ago), and someone who will attack a complete stranger without any purpose doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would pay any attention to reason. I dithered for a while, not sure what I should do. All I actually ended up doing in the end was getting off a couple of stops further along and reporting the incident to a member of tube staff. As I'd sort of expected, nothing can be done unless the actual victim makes a complaint, but at least if he does they know there was a witness, and the place/time of the incident has been registered. I suppose it's at least slightly better than just minding my own business.

I realised eventually, far too late, that the best thing I could have done was to stay on the platform, and ask the guy who had been attacked if he was OK. Maybe buy him a drink, and talk it all through with him. The worst part of that whole situation is how this poor guy feels mentally. I guess there's no lasting physical damage, maybe some slight bruising, but that will heal. His state of mind, on the other hand, is where the real damage is. Maybe some people can just think shit happens and forget about something like that. I know I'm not like that, and I know a lot of other people aren't. Perhaps if you're open minded enough you can see that this kind of indiscriminate violence could happen to anyone, and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So as an individual you need not think anything bad about yourself - the thug is the person with real problems. However you deal with it though, there is something deeply upsetting about that kind of incident.

I wish this unfortunate stranger all the best, and I hope the guy who pointlessly attacked him learns the error of his ways.

You live, you learn.

Posted by Rob Lang at 2003/01/30 24:03:02.

Errr... any chance of further clarification of what you mean there Rob?

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 24:08:50.

Life is shite. People are shite. It all seems a clear enough from down here.

Posted by Rusty at 2003/01/30 24:18:38.

No! I refuse to let this turn into a "let's give up on humanity" theme. It's just one wanker among a whole crowd of probably very nice people.

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 24:24:51.

No, I think you'll find that on the whole the world is, infact, shite.

Just one wanker and his mate... don't forget about his mate. Oh, and the other people. Did any of them do anything? I'm guessing not... 'cause they're shite.

Posted by Rusty at 2003/01/30 24:44:41.

Having just looked at your site Russ, I realise you're currently looking at this in a wholly different context. So I can sort of see where you're coming from. However, most people (myself included if I'm honest) are controlled by what basically amounts to fear, one way or another, in that sort of situation. Whereas that makes people weak, it doesn't necessarily make them bad.

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 24:51:50.

I suppose I am in rather a black mood.

Posted by Rusty at 2003/01/30 24:57:01.

It's best you didn't confront them. You'd have got your ass kicked.

Posted by rowanboy at 2003/01/30 14:18:30.

Errr, thanks Tom.

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 14:23:37.

You could've bitten them...

*glances at the scar on my thumb*

Posted by Rusty at 2003/01/30 15:15:34.

I haven't seen such stuff in the tube but I have seen some agressive looking people who are just searching for a reason to pick fight.

Do you ever feel that 'mind your business' type of attitude is restricted to just large cities where people have no time for each other. I feel that if this incident had occoured in a small town / village where people are more free and caring - they would have taken this 'aggressive' person to task. Maybe that's one of the negatives that we have to face by living in big cities.

Posted by Maltesh at 2003/01/30 16:18:51.

Russ: At the risk of this being taken out of context, I believe you put your fingers in my mouth of your own free will.

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 17:25:42.

Maltesh: I think there's a lot of truth in what you say there. I think the fact that we all consider ourselves seperate individuals when in places like London is a big part of the problem.

Posted by John at 2003/01/30 17:30:12.

I believe I was hanging over your shoulder at the time...

Posted by Rusty at 2003/01/30 18:49:56.

What I meant John is that given a similar situation again, you'll have a better chance of knowing how to react. Thus you live, you learn.

As far as the world being shit, I don't think it is. I think it is a pretty good state at the moment. There will always be a few outliers on the statistical curve of humanity.

Posted by Rob Lang at 2003/01/31 24:55:52.

....no solution to a geezer off his head, or out of his head.

Might of been a knife next.

Where's Spiderman when he's needed?

Posted by Karl at 2003/02/04 18:31:29.

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Posted by standy at 2008/11/09 20:09:48.

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