A while ago, I posted about etiquette in the pit. After the story that my hubby told me about tonight’s gig, I feel the need to amend that post.
We all know about how we’re all supposed to behave at shows, but how should we react to people who are not able to understand? There is one Toronto dude in particular who is clearly not at the standard level of understanding/whatever. Just about everyone who is regular in the Toronto scene give this guy a bit of extra understanding.
My hubby just got back from a show where some Nazi-wanna-be-jerk tried to punch this lower functioning guy. (The NWBJ actually ended up punching my hubby because he has terrible aim, I assume)
I know Toronto, so I know who is being horrible, and who just doesn’t understand how to behave, and I act according to this knowledge. At big, “popular” shows, I assume that people who don’t follow the “rules” are jerks. This is WRONG. Some people don’t have the mental capacity to follow the basic rules.
After finding out how badly this “differently abled” guy was treated, I decided to re-evaluate the way that I respond to guys who bother me at shows. How do I know that they’re being jerks? How do I now that they understand the impact of their reactions?
How do you decide how to react to an apparent jerk?
April 6, 2010 at 12:37 am |
Well, I think that your adjustment in attitude toward people who are being “jerks” is extremely healthy, and it is the method that I usually employ as well. I find that most of the time if you have the time to evaluate someone who is being a jerk, you will find that it is usually simply due to some inadequacy on their part, and so I therefore usually end up feeling sorry for them, which is a lot more healthy way to deal with it when compared to getting angry.
April 8, 2010 at 1:51 am |
HCH
Glad to hear that I’m traveling the right route.