Good for you, David. Bullies do tend to fold quickly when faced with someone who is not afraid…most have a “sixth sense” that tells them that they messed with the wrong person but not always. I can’t tell you how many times situations have de-escalated simply because I was not afraid to fight.
Imagine the level of fear and just unhappiness in that guy’s life to overreact so extremely to you approaching him. Something happens to people when they are in their cars that makes many people more aggressive and fearful than they would be walking down the street.
A little while back, I was doing my Uber gig in downtown Beverly Hills, either Rodeo or Canon. Crowded street with vehicles and pedestrians. I’m always looking for the safest place to drop people off and there was an open parking spot so I pulled partially into it to let my passengers out. There was a shiny black Escalade double parked one space in front of the open space with flashers on. I figured that he was another driver either waiting for his passengers or dropping off, didn’t really think about it.
Turns out that he wanted to back into the space I was now blocking, (but only for a moment), if he’d had his turn signal on, I would have understood his intention. Anyhow, I’m getting ready to move on and suddenly I have this large, angry dude in my face. I had my window down. I’m a weirdo, so I get really calm in these situations. Partly to try to de-escalate but also because this guy has no clue how little I care if he assaults me. I always need a little excitement in my life.
He’s going off and I explain that I thought he was just waiting plus I’m not even parking…it doesn’t calm him and he says, “get out of the car.” In a voice that is almost bored, I say, “you want to fight?” Like I’m asking if he wants cream in his coffee. This made him stutter…”uh, no…yes…whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
“GTFOH, chimp.”
He thought that his size and aggression could intimidate me, or whoever he was going to encounter. Just like the guy at Costco. The guy was close to my age and he would not have healed quickly from hitting the pavement.