Think back to when you were in school. Whenever there was a fight, everyone rushed to watch. No one did that for the school spelling bee, now did they?
For some reason, people want to see altercations. They seek out the loud confrontations, sometimes hoping they'll see something like a fight. Many people never really go out of it.
And as my friend Kat Ainsworth notes over at Shooting News Weekly--yeah, the same Kat Ainsworth that John talked about earlier today--gets into why that's stupid and potentially dangerous. Let's start with this part, because the framing here matters.
If you’re reading this, odds are good you’ve heard of John Farnam’s Rules of Stupid before. Basically, don’t go stupid places with stupid people and do stupid things. That may seem pretty obvious—as in, don’t go wandering through a dark alley at night, butt-naked and whistling Dixie—but there’s a lot more to it than that. Some places that qualify as stupid might not appear that way at first. But have no fear, we’re here to help, and we have an example for you fresh from the newswire.
Thanks to the weird way the news works now, this event took place over a week ago before it started making the rounds. It took place in Taylor, Michigan, part of the Detroit metro area where the rate of violent crime is higher the national average (try to contain your shock). Within that city lies the Southland Mall, a spot with its own reputation for violence.
An argument started when a woman tried to buy something, and her card was declined. Someone behind her in line called her a "broke b****" and carnage followed. The woman turned, confronted who she thought was the speaker, which turned into an argument that resulted in another woman being stabbed.
The woman who was stabbed claims she never made the comment, that she heard a commotion in the store and ducked in to see what was happening. There is some dispute about that claim, though.
Whether the 19-year-old victim inserted herself by 1) entering the store and approaching the scene of what would soon become the crime or 2) was already in line and ran her mouth isn’t the primary issue here. First and foremost is the simple issue that she made herself available for stabbing. And before you say, oh no, now you’re victim-shaming, let’s be real. It’s always stupid to provoke a high-risk incident and even stupider to decide to wander into one.
“So what,” you say, “Am I supposed to flee the immediate area, tossing my purchases wildly as I go?” Yes, basically. When things are going south, get your happy ass out of there. Avoid the confrontation entirely. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.
It’s true that it isn’t normal for a grown woman to be carrying a kitchen knife in her purse. There’s also no way at all to know who around you is armed, legally, illegally, or irrationally weirdly. A kitchen knife, ice pick, skateboard…they’ve all been used as deadly weapons at some point.
Yep.
Look, we carry because things can go sideways in a heartbeat. However, a lot of people don't seem to understand that and still think they're in high school, where every fight needs to be caught on their phones and uploaded to Instagram or something. Or, if you're older, like me, just to have something exciting to talk about the rest of the day when you don't want to pay attention in trigonometry class.
But as adults, the stakes change. Not only are fights criminal offenses that result in far more than a couple of days at home and/or a couple of days of in-school suspension. Plus, too many people in this day and age think it's acceptable to resort to violence simply because they got called a name.
However, let's also understand that it doesn't matter that the victim didn't deserve to be stabbed, no matter what she said, but that doesn't make her less stabbed, now does it?
The sacred art of minding your own business is definitely underrated these days.
It's one thing if you're actually or potentially saving lives because you insert yourself in something--Eli Dickens probably could have escaped from the Greenwood Park Mall, after all, but I'm glad he didn't--but it's another to just want to see a fight, an argument, or something equally stupid. Even if you're thirsting for entertainment, there are too many cases where arguments turn deadly. This one easily could have, but thankfully didn't.
Had the victim minded her own business--either staying out of the store or just not making a comment, which is applicable--she likely wouldn't have gotten a knife in the stomach. Is it her fault? Of course not. The full responsibility falls on the woman who stabbed her.
But we can't pretend that if she'd minded her own business, this never would have happened in the first place.
As Kat notes above, you never know just who you're looking at. You don't know they're carrying a kitchen knife and are willing to stab you with it because they think, rightly or not, that you called them a "broke b****." One great way to not have to worry about it is to not insert yourself in situations. Minding your own damn business does a lot of good, especially when lives aren't on the line if you don't.
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