Does this make me a peacemaker, an alpha male, or an asshole?

[derby378]

I had to break up an argument at McDonalds this morning. I walk in, some balding guy with a mustache who's dressed like he's going to church is pointing his finger and speaking loudly to an apologetic cashier. He keeps repeating "You're wrong" at a volume loud enough for everyone in the restaurant to hear him, while the cashier responds, "I'm sorry, Sir." Finally, Col. Mustard turns away and issues a back-handed "God bless" as he walks away. Another guy in a trucker hat standing in line says, very quietly, that it was "rude" to utter a "God bless" after acting like that. Here comes Col. Mustard, storming back towards Trucker Hat, nostrils starting to flare. So I interpose myself between the two and tell them to let it drop, but Col. Mustard keeps pointing at the guy and telling him to mind his own business and challenging him on how he pays for his food. Finally, without looking at either guy, I raise my voice and shout, "Stop! NOW!" Mustard takes a step back, points his finger at me, and tells me, "You mind your own business, too, Sir." Then he turns around and walks away, and I'm free to place my breakfast order in peace.

So, what do you think? Are we all just a little cranky from the Daylight Savings Time shift or something? Or was I justified in defusing something that could have gotten really ugly?

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

1. I think you should've picked me up a mcGriddle thing.

[derby378]

4. Well...

Don't you think it would have been ice cold by the time I drove from TX to Miamisburg, OH? :hi:

[XemaSab]

2. I think it was really good that things turned out well for all concerned

:shrug:

[derby378]

8. Me, too

I'm starting to get too old for this sort of thing.

[Drum]

3. Peacemaker:

weren't taking sides;
weren't investigating or making people defend their side of anything;
not seeking any end but peace.

Good job...now where's my McGriddle?

:hi:

[derby378]

6. Geez, and I though the commute to OH was a drive...

By the time I deliver a McGriddle to everyone on DU, I'll have replaced my timing belt, my brakes, and possibly my transmission. Oh, the sacrifices we make... :hi:

[JanMichael]

5. Reckless.

Seriously either one of the two who were fussing at each other could have flipped out and gone bang with a handgun.

On the other hand I doubt that the situation was going anywhere anyway and it would've end of its own volition.

People are just nuts sometimes but not at breakfast. No need to make it potentially worse.

All that said the bald fucker needs an ass kicking from the sound of it.

[derby378]

7. Trucker Hat was actually pretty nice to me afterwards

It convinced me that even if the Mickey D's crew got Mustard's order wrong, he was taking it all way too seriously. Trucker was even joking with me as to what I thought about this whole Daylight Savings deal. (Me, I think it's nuts, but we've been trough far worse.)

I'll admit there are times when my temper gets the better of me, but when that happens, I get neither violent nor loud - just quietly belligerent. It's something I need to work on. But in this case, I just wanted the bitching to stop for everyone's sake.

[Bluzmann57]

16. Hey wait! Are you making fun of baldies?

If so, I am going to have to kick your ass. By the way, I'M JUST KIDDING! As long as you are too.

[rug]

9. This would not happen if McDonald's used certified humane eggs.

[derby378]

11. Oh, you kid...

:rofl:

And yes, I do use eggs from free-roaming hens at home. Chickens have feets, and they have every right to move their feets and live normal lives.

[derby378]

10. On a related note...

Back in 1999, my future wife and I were at a St. Patrick's Day celebration at what was then our home pub. It was woefully overcrowded, and we both got jostled and bumped endlessly, even when we were seated at a table. Then, all of a sudden, two guys standing next to me take issue with each other, probably over an unfortunate jostle, and they've just thrown their beer at each other. I am perhaps the only guy in the entire pub who is in any position to physically interpose myself between these two patrons - and in my mind's eye, I see fists flying and blood spurting in the immediate future.

I forced myself out of my chair just in time. My right arm was wrapped around one guy's upper torso while my left arm, stiff as a board, was pressed against the other guy's chest. The two combatants were shouting epithets at each other, hate carved into their brows, and I kept repeating "Hey! Hey! Hey!" because my brain couldn't think of anything else to say. By this time, half a dozen other patrons were trying to pull these two apart, with little success. Finally, I started repeating "This is no good!" over and over while further pushing these two would-be brawlers away from each other. They finally walked away from each other, and I even patted one of them reassuringly on the shoulders.

We had never been in a situation like that before or since. The pub was simply way too overcrowded, and any security in the pub was easily overwhelmed. I think the manager was trying his best to keep within the municipal fire codes as far as capacity was concerned, but if the fire chief had set foot in the pub, the poor manager might have had some explaining to do.

All I know is that I helped prevent what could have been a very nasty fight. A lot of people congratulated me afterwards. But I really don't want to go through something like that again.

[ms liberty]

12. You should have asked Col. Mustard...

"Do you take that attitude to church, or do you just whip it out when you don't get your ass kissed enough?"

Now seriously, I think you performed a public service in a way that was graceful and non-agressive. I hope everyone was nice to the cashier he was such an ass to?

[hippywife]

21. Or

"Your yelling makes the baby Jesus cry!"

[havocmom]

13. You were more peacemaker than I could have been

'bout the time the lout told me to mind my own business, I would have gone into full 'stern momma' gear and faced him down with "Your raised voice has made this EVERYONE'S business, buster! Back off NOW!' Then I would have offered to buy him DECAF, with extra sugar. Humor at the end of a verbal whackin' helps to diffuse much. All will relax except die-hard assholes, and who cares if they choke on their own venom and stroke out? ;)

You were a very mature peacemaker. And we need more like you. Assholes prevail because the too-often go unchallenged by cowering masses.

[Pushed To The Left]

14. Peacemaker

You were just trying to prevent a situation from getting uglier. I remember breaking up a fight between 2 other security guards when I was doing security about 10 years ago. It would have been an interesting fight: a street-tough 22-year-old who was probably about 5'3" vs. a 49-year-old man who was 6 feet tall but not as street-tough. I would have been curious to see how the fight would have gone, but I got between them and did not allow them to fight because it seemed like the responsible thing to do. I broke up 2 fights 2 weeks in a row when I did security at a UPS in Laguna. One was already in progress when I jumped in, and the other one was apparently a racially charged one that was about to start. I may have broken up a fight when I did security at Fashion Island between a very effeminate man and a small Asian woman, but I don't think they were going to come to blows. They were chest to chest, so I got between them just in case.

[demrabble]

15. Don't You Know That McDonald's Food Is Unhealthy?

Why did you go into a McDonald's?

[derby378]

20. That's one way to change the subject...

:shrug:

[Cobalt-60]

25. Perhaps their agressive behavior is a result of

Toxins in the Mc Food

[amitten]

17. Hard to "mind your own business" when someone's yelling.

If you don't want anyone in your business, you can damn well keep it to yourself.

[Ptah]

18. I hereby award you the Badge of the Peace Police

Well done.

:thumbsup:

[derby378]

22. Aw, you're too kind

:hug:

[BuelahWitch]

19. I'd say you were asshole repellent

Baldy was looking for a fight obviously. I'll bet the manager was glad you came along! :hi:

[philosophie_en_rose]

23. I think you were defusing and absolutely in the right.

I don't think you were an asshole. I think you did the right thing. If he knows that more than one person is going to set boundaries, he's less likely to pick on anyone. If everyone had stood around and watched, it would have sent him the message that he could continue to bully people or that you tacitly agreed with him.

You didn't say anything the Mckiddies shouldn't hear, and you spoke up for an employee who probably couldn't tell that loser off.

Good for you.

[Taverner]

24. Vigilant Defender of the Social Contract

We need a lot more of that...as opposed to law enforcement