Brownstoner is reporting that a teen thug who had been knocking books off the shelves at the Court Street Barnes and Noble assaulted the manager who asked him to leave:
Brownstoner: The manager had asked him to leave the store. “You disrespectin’ me?” the teen shouted back. No, that’s why I’m asking you nicely to leave, but you need to leave, reiterated the manager. Then, wham, the teen wound up and socked the manager in the face, bloodying him and knocking him over, and took off down the street. Rather than stick around to help i.d. the assailant, whom our tipster overheard some of the kids saying they knew where he lived, the rest of them took off as well. No word on whether the cops caught the guy. Update: Turns out that someone did call the cops and they came very quickly, but the assailant had already fled.
Ah! The old “are you disrespecting me” line. Ironically, it seems to only eminate from the mouths of those who don’t command, deserve or understand the concept.
The all-too-usual mixture of anger and…shall we call it low self-esteem?
The default chip-on-the-shoulder position results from fear of one’s own insignificance/powerlessness–and the habitual need to “disprove” same by creating situations that ostensibly reveal one’s sway over others.
Not to go all shrinky on y’all, but….
PS, was on the subway the other day. A young guy and his girlfriend had manoeuvred themselves so that they blocked a door. When the door opened, they didn’t budge, thus preventing people from getting out or in.
When I tried to exit from “their” door, I said, “Can you move so I can get out?”
The reply from the guy: “You disrespecting me?” He looked at the girl for affirmation.
She smiled, looked at me, and said, “Sucker!”
I was wondering how long it would take before the bigoted remarks started to fly. Whenever there is a discussion of the block near a movie theater the conversation always gets directed in this direction.
Wouldn’t “Excuse me” have been a better choice of words than “can you move?”
You people!
R., of course you’re right. The problem was mine, not that of the door-blockers.
I threw don’t the gauntlet, rather than they, implacably immobile and against whom people were struggling to enter/exit, by not being sufficiently polite.
Thanks for setting me straight!
Sorry, TK Small – we’ll cease to state the obvious from here on in. I’m positive that the poor store manager who was just trying to do his job is infinitely more concerned with the politically correct tone of this blog as opposed to nursing his wounds from this violent little thug.
The fact is, I used to live across the street from the movie theater and got tired of being hassled on a constant basis while minding my own business walking down the street, got tired of being woken from my sleep because of the fights breaking out in the middle of the night OUTSIDE OF THE THEATER, and tired of feeling relatively safe in almost every other part of our area but not in front of my own building. I chose to stay in the area but move out of there because I love this town dearly, only I don’t feel like being subjected to the above on a near-daily basis.
i’ve never had an issue with “thugs” on court street in 10 years of living here. maybe those of you who have so many problems with the “thugs” should consider that perhaps you are giving off an attitude of fear, mistrust or hatred before any incidents even happen.
not condoning the incident in b&n because this kid was clearly looking for trouble but posts like these always fill with anecdotes about getting hassled by “thugs” that i believe are often avoidable if people would just drop their preconceived notions about black teenagers…
Very few of us are free from preconception or prejudice, which of course can, in some cases, serve us well.
Case in point: the teenagers in my tale above WEREN’T black; so if travy was referring to my post in his/her post…well, he or she is saluting the existence in him/her of the very thing he/she decries.
aeb- yes you nailed me. i indeed suffer from preconceived notions about white commenters on brooklyn blogs. i shall try harder not to malign this long suffering group…
Again, travey–how do you know when the commentators on
“Brooklyn blogs” are white?
As for your “long suffering” dig–many non-blacks, even those who contribute to blogs like this one, can and do champion the cause of racial parity.
i think some folks have the perception that white people will stand to be hassled b/c we are too scared and weak to do anything. i always relish the reaction when someone intent on harrassing me gets a reality check.