Told a guy he shouldn't smoke in the car with his infant, wrong thing to say

[goldenshowers]

Yesterday I pull into a parking spot to run my daily errands with my two year old daughter (small town 3500 people). 20 something guy in the rusted out truck next to me is smoking inside with his infant in the car seat right next to him.

Nothing against smoking, everything against smoking in a car with someone without a choice. So I decided to mention to him that he should do his kid a favour and step outside for his smoke. Immediately this guy twitches, jumps out of his truck and wants to fight.

"How is it your business what i do to my kid?" he yells. I thought as a teacher, I'm going to have to end up teaching this little guy in the future and we all know how far the apple falls from the tree. Furthermore that's fricken child abuse and it's illegal to smoke in a car with people under 18 in it in the province of BC.

Basically this skid had no substance to his argument and was just uttering profanities and telling me to stop hiding behind my kid and fight. I'm a 35 year old grown man holding a two year old, I don't fight. Nor am I going to teach my daughter that fighting is the answer to solve problems and disagreements; I am after all her role model.

Not soon after the confrontation started I was getting in my car to get away from this waste of skin as mentioned, his only argument was wanna fight, let's fight, fight you pussy. His closing line was so weak, "why don't you go home and fuck your boyfriend in the ass?" At this point, driving away, I wasn't really sure if this guy was smart enough to know how babies are made.

His poor kid, is already behind before he even started.

Damn morales. Was I correct in saying something? Would you? Or should I have just minded my own business and kept my yap shut? Or should I have called the cops and let them deal with him?

[buttahflake]

Sounds like the man actually
You got served
Don't run yer mouth

[goldenshowers]

Sounds like the man actually

This line of thinking is why trump is the president of the excited states.

Please explain to me how someone uttering a string of profanities and waving their arms in the air like a gorilla is me being served?

[BmillsSkier]

Sounds like the same kind of douche who's first instinct is to fight when someone looks at them. They're everywhere. It's heartbreaking for the kid but it's not uncommon.

You said your peace be comfortable with that and move on.

[Timberridge]

In VT they do heroin

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ore-drugs.html

[Vt-Freeheel]

There is no helping white trash.

[wyeaster]

you could call the police and he could ask them whose business it is.

[muted]

Good for you, it would have bothered you a long time if you didn't say anything. Fuck that piece of shit.

[riser4]

Canada has rednecks?

[liv2ski]

There is no helping white trash.

Canada has rednecks?

They are everywhere. Can't shoot em, so just ignore them is my motto. Hmmm, maybe that is how we got Dump.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

There is no helping white trash.

Are you saying buttintake is lost to us?

[frorider]

next time live up to your username and pee on him. Trump supporters are into that shit.

[splat]

Shoulda told him your boyfriend is RCMP.

[m01543]

Long time lurker on this forum but felt compelled to reply here. Let me start by saying that I totally agree this guy you ran into is a total d-bag, and that child is going to have an uphill battle for the rest of their life. It sucks.

However, as a father, you're main responsibility is raising YOUR child, and protecting her. Getting into an unprompted verbal confrontation with a redneck, while holding your two year old, and telling them how to raise their child has about two or three possible outcomes, none of which involve him saying "You know, you're right. I really need to rethink all of my priorities and help give this child a better life".

You're lucky this guy didn't put a beat down on you or worse. You never know who is on the other side of that conversation. You catch the wrong person at the wrong time, and it might be lights out. My advice is to mind your own business, or if you really feel the child is in danger, then report it to the authorities.

[fatnslow]

America(the world) is full of stupid mother fuckers. There's a reason we as humans let people like Trump and Hitler slide into power.

[mall walker]

I used to smoke. Once or twice a stranger made some comment to me about it in public ("don't you know that's bad for you?" sort of thing).

Never made a difference. I never freaked out and tried to fight them either, but you aren't a) telling him anything he doesn't already know or b) convincing him to change his behavior. Call the cops if it's against the law and you care that much, or just let it go. Smoking is just acceptable to bash on. You wouldn't tell a mother giving her kid a Big Mac to stop feeding him that shit, it's gonna give him diabetes, right?

[mcski]

I've run into that scenario a couple of times and found mentioning there is a cop around the corner and smoking in a car with a kid is an expensive ticket general changes the dynamic of the convo and gets desired result. At least short term.

[54-46]

Right sentiment, wrong approach. Doesn't sound like you did anything to connect with the guy before "you told him how to raise his kid."

Next time you want to help the kid out, take a few extra seconds to see if you can connect with the parent before giving him some "friendly advice." If you can't, then move along (shaking your head)

[iceman]

Damn morales.

The guy was Mexican?

[Skidog]

Dude probably needs an ass kicking of epic proportions just to teach him that mouthing off immediately isn't the best solution. I don't know that you should or should not say anything to white trash in rusted out trucks about how they are raising their kids. In this situation I might've simply called the cops and sat in my car and watched.

I think you did ok....

[Alpinord]

Long time lurker on this forum but felt compelled to reply here. Let me start by saying that I totally agree this guy you ran into is a total d-bag, and that child is going to have an uphill battle for the rest of their life. It sucks.

However, as a father, you're main responsibility is raising YOUR child, and protecting her. Getting into an unprompted verbal confrontation with a redneck, while holding your two year old, and telling them how to raise their child has about two or three possible outcomes, none of which involve him saying "You know, you're right. I really need to rethink all of my priorities and help give this child a better life".

You're lucky this guy didn't put a beat down on you or worse. You never know who is on the other side of that conversation. You catch the wrong person at the wrong time, and it might be lights out. My advice is to mind your own business, or if you really feel the child is in danger, then report it to the authorities.

This reminds me of an asshole lighting up in the middle of 30 people waiting for the lift to start. I asked him to wait until he was on the lift. He shot me a look and yelled out 'it's a free country'. My very young son was next to me and looked horrified. So did several adults around me as they cowered. At the top of the run I was helping my kid and this dude boarded right by me and almost clipped me and my kid, turned around and flipped me off.

I can't imagine how this resonated through my son viscerally and subliminally to this day vs letting it all just pass as I should have. You can't win. Do you show your kid you are a pussy or to stand up to assholes and bullies and put yourself and your kid at risk? Either way, assholes will remain assholes.

One regret was having a better comeback to their irrational comments:

Asshole: "It's a free country."
Response: "Yes, because it is, you can choose to be considerate of others or be a worthless dick."

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Long time lurker on this forum but felt compelled to reply here. Let me start by saying that I totally agree this guy you ran into is a total d-bag, and that child is going to have an uphill battle for the rest of their life. It sucks.

However, as a father, you're main responsibility is raising YOUR child, and protecting her. Getting into an unprompted verbal confrontation with a redneck, while holding your two year old, and telling them how to raise their child has about two or three possible outcomes, none of which involve him saying "You know, you're right. I really need to rethink all of my priorities and help give this child a better life".

You're lucky this guy didn't put a beat down on you or worse. You never know who is on the other side of that conversation. You catch the wrong person at the wrong time, and it might be lights out. My advice is to mind your own business, or if you really feel the child is in danger, then report it to the authorities.

This is why poor behavior proliferates in this country, no one calls people out on it. See below for op. We need to police ourselves and our communities. The chances of someone who acts like the guy in the op actually doing something is slim, people who act like that are just posturing.

I used to smoke. Once or twice a stranger made some comment to me about it in public ("don't you know that's bad for you?" sort of thing).

Never made a difference. I never freaked out and tried to fight them either, but you aren't a) telling him anything he doesn't already know or b) convincing him to change his behavior. Call the cops if it's against the law and you care that much, or just let it go. Smoking is just acceptable to bash on. You wouldn't tell a mother giving her kid a Big Mac to stop feeding him that shit, it's gonna give him diabetes, right?

This is a false equivalency. First, I don't care if someone smokes if it's outdoors or allowed inside(good luck finding that place). Second, sitting in a car with an infant and smoking is a long way from buying a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder for your child.

In the ops case the best course of action would have been to call the police and report this cretin for child endangerment.

[The AD]

Sounds like the man actually

Really?

[uglymoney]

Long time lurker on this forum but felt compelled to reply here. Let me start by saying that I totally agree this guy you ran into is a total d-bag, and that child is going to have an uphill battle for the rest of their life. It sucks.

However, as a father, you're main responsibility is raising YOUR child, and protecting her. Getting into an unprompted verbal confrontation with a redneck, while holding your two year old, and telling them how to raise their child has about two or three possible outcomes, none of which involve him saying "You know, you're right. I really need to rethink all of my priorities and help give this child a better life".

You're lucky this guy didn't put a beat down on you or worse. You never know who is on the other side of that conversation. You catch the wrong person at the wrong time, and it might be lights out. My advice is to mind your own business, or if you really feel the child is in danger, then report it to the authorities.

This is how I roll when my daughter is with me especially. Head down and mouth shut. Lots of folks with gun permits that use that as a license to drive around like assholes.

On our trip to Utardia and beyond a couple weeks ago a redneck dickhead in a jacked diesel truck (near Rock Springs) pulled onto the interstate behind us, passed us on the right as I was about to overtake a semi, then pulled in beside the semi and hit his brakes. Slowed down and nailed it trying to smoke us out. Could see him watching his mirrors. I slowed down and pulled back into the right lane and he did too watching his mirrors and then he exited. Dickbag was just waiting for me to react but I gave him the bird down where he couldn't see it and displayed a poker face. Tinted windows so he would have been unable to see my little girl in the back. Not...worth...my...time. I have a responsibility to protect my daughter from douchebags like that. Nothing to be gained through confrontation.

What pisses me off locally are all the moms and dads who drive their kids to school (almost 100% of them if the temp is below 40) and then leave their cars idling in front of the school while they run inside for a few minutes. Normal to see 5 or 6 cars idling in a row with nobody in them during sweatshirt weather. Pussies. I winter camp and will admit to idling a bit in the morning to warm my toes and ski boots or what not but idling for no reason with kids walking by, wtf. 100% of the kids being driven or picked up from school live too close to have bus service. I understand parents have places to go (myself included) but the walking rate should be far higher than it is. This is the reason people from Colorado, Utah, PNW come to Iowa and are blown away by all the fat people. I want to say something to all of them but realize my only hope would be to find funding for no idle zone signs and bring it to the schoolboard/city council and I don't really have it in me.

[Not Neil_Armstrong]

I have 3 little kids, and I'm a firm believer that I'm the one responsible for my kids safety and upbringing. I'm not going to interfere with what other people do because I wouldn't appreciate someone sticking their nose in my business.
Having said that. Fuck that douche waffle. I don't understand smoking and certainly do not understand the need to fight about anything as A GOD DAMN ADULT !
I've sold my way out of every fight without it even starting. I don't have time for that shit plus I'm to pretty to be punched in the face.