We are all aware that we have the prehistoric remnants of a ‘lizard brain,’ the leftover survival instinct that shifts into ‘fight or flight’ mode when we find ourselves in danger.
I wonder if the last couple of millennia have also added ‘ignore’ and ‘freeze’ to our survival toolkits as well.
Here’s how my little lizard brain tried to deal with a drunk on the bus:
That may have been her stop, but I'm glad she didn't get off and have to deal with him on the footpath. On the other hand, if you hadn't done your good deed, she would have got safely home, but all the rest of the passengers would still have to put up with the drunk who would have right away found someone else to chat up. Either way, I think you did the right thing. I'm one of those freeze and shrink into a corner people mostly.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 'freeze' person too on public transport - I think that most of us are. It's only when you feel safe enough to speak up that we try the 'fight' aspect. He could barely stand up so I felt that if he got violent he'd take a swing, miss by a mile and hopefully land on the floor and sleep!
DeleteWell, I didn't see that punchline coming. Men behaving badly! There is rather a lot of that being reported here at the moment.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have surprised you, Andrew! It has stuck in my memory because my ego had inflated for a few moments thinking about how clever and brave I was and she got the symbolic pin out and popped it!
DeleteHA HA HA! That made me laugh. Drunk on buses are bad - and I've seen a few. Sadly I am a nutter and drunken bum magnet and I usually end up being the target of their fuzzy conversation. If you get the chance, have a watch of this - it may seem familiar.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/BritishComedyClassics/videos/533077653921354
Love Jasper Carrot!
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