BuddyLars Loc: Rockton, Illinois

I get up at 3:15am Monday-Saturday so I can be at work by 4:30am. I like to leave my home by 4:00am.
Before I woke up one morning I had a dream that burned into my brain, as most of my dreams I forget what the dream was when I rise out of bed, but not this one. My dream was that my wife and I went into a small greasy spoon type of cafe. We sat at a table and I was facing the entry door. Two men walk in and I get bad vibes but I do not look at them for long, then another walks in with a long fiberglass stick (kinda like a fishing pole) he eyeballs me and I know bad things are going to happen. He meanders behind me and starts flicking me on the side of my face with his stick. I know I am out numbered and my biggest fear was that my wife would be assaulted and maybe murdered. I swing up and grab the stick man and shove his face/head into the edge of the counter and he is down and I took the others down with calm and deliberate moves. I wake up and think that most of my fight dreams end up with me not being able to throw a punch and my feet feel like they are in mud.
Now to my trip to work.
I am a routine guy, but this morning I had to stop and get gas for my truck, out of my routine. I am thinking I'm 10 minutes out of whack. As I start back to my drive my dream is going over and over in my head. The shop I work at is not in the best of areas in Rockford, IL. I stop at a 4 way stop. look to my left, no car coming but at the corner is a parked car and a woman with long blond hair in walking to the drivers door and I think to myself how this young lady looks like my daughter-in-law. I look to my right, no car and I take one more look to my left and the woman is to the door and all of a sudden a man comes flying from the front of the car and punches the woman square in the face. The next thing I know is that I am confronting this dude. The woman is on her back in the street crying, I can see her with my side vision while her attacker is in front of me. He is jacked up and starts yelling at me "Whatcha gonna do?!!!" I just hold my ground. He seems to understand that I am not impressed with his peacock squawking. So he does his best to make me understand what is going on, "You don't know, she's my bitch" He tells me this twice, I tell him, "You're not hitting her again" I am aware of everything, I see the woman getting herself up without looking at her, I see the madness in his eyes, I'm watching / waiting for his hands to either strike me or reach for a weapon. He does neither. A part of me wanted to ram his face into the curb, but I will not do anything unless he strikes me or the woman. By now the girl is up and is able to get in her car, start it and takes off, he hears the car door slam and turns his attention to her and punches the drivers window, she's gone. Again I wanted to finish this guy but she made it out safe and he doesn't advance on me. I get back in my truck and go to work, my routine was way out today.
After I had time to think about this event, it really bothered me. One, I know that if I hit him, it would have been bad, bad for him even though I probably would not be charged by the police, that would not stop his family from taking me to civil court. Two, if that would have been a black woman getting the crap kicked out of her would have I been there as quick as I was when this white girl was getting hit by this black guy? I would like to think so....
My wife said "you're not going to do that again are you?" I told her I didn't know I was going to do it this time. I could have sat in my truck and call the police and wait...wait for this girl to breathe her last breath.
Did my dream prep me for this? I have to say yes. If I did not get gas that morning, that girl may have taken more punishment, or maybe another person may have stopped.
After another reflection I felt depressed about our humanity.

phcaan Loc: Willow Springs, MO

Good for you! If more people stood up for what was right we may not be in the mess we are today.
Thank You.

stevenelson Loc: Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

jadeast Loc: Virginia

A very heroic act! Congratulations! yes there were some risks involved but you handled the situation without escalating it. You're the kind of person we need more of!

BuddyLars Loc: Rockton, Illinois

Besides my wife and my kids, this is the only time I have told this. I guess I wanted to share that responsible people do responsible things. If I had a handgun, I would not have brought it out, the actions did not warrant that. I felt comfortable that if this dirt-bag did reach for something that I would have controlled him, being that I was 2 steps from him and I would have bull-rushed him if he started reaching. It could have gone bad for me, but it was the girl I was concerned about. How much of this abusive behavior goes on? That is when I became depressed about humanity. I usually just focus on things in my private world, helping institutions that help others (local food pantry and Rockford Rescue Mission). I had / have no intentions of being a "protector" of a situation like I fell into, but it became something that had to be done.

sourdough58 Loc: Maine

Thank you , You did what was right.

Treepusher Loc: Kingston, Massachusetts

Kudos. Lots of scumbags running around these days, and you're lucky he didn't pull a gun. Chalk one up for a good guy! Thank you for helping.

pilgrim1951 Loc: New Jersey

Your reaction tempered with such constraint is inspirational. Divine appointment it in my eyes. Thank you.

photosarah Loc: East Sussex, UK

BuddyLars
You don't need to feel "depressed about our humanity". Not all humanity is rotten. Just take a look at yourself. You reacted immediately to a bad situation and handled it well. Apart from the girl, you were 50% of the "humanity" at the scene, and you did it right. Let's rejoice about the 50% you represent - and realistically, there is much more of "humanity" that is good than it is bad. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Croce Loc: Earth

You can be my buddy anytime Buddy. Good man with a good head and not afraid to act. Stay careful though my friend, you're not a kid anymore. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Millismote Loc: Massachusetts

I am not sure I would have had the courage to do what you did. good for you, it doesn't take much to hit a women but you made him think twice.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

You should be proud of yourself - you managed to stay in control when your emotions would have been naturally high - you took the sensible approach and minimised the danger for both yourself and the victim - have a great holiday - you deserve it.

Tell you a little story:

I was in Liverpool City Centre, with my wife and daughter, some years ago and saw a guy punching and kicking a flag seller - I acted instinctively and rushed over and grabbed the guy and threw him against a roadside traffic barrier and jammed his legs so he could do no more damage.
I suddenly felt a sharp pain on the back of my head as I turned I saw it was the flag seller hitting me with her tray and shouting for me to mind my own business and to release the guy who had been hitting her.
I learned later that there are fake flag sellers who get the collecting materials from the respective charity and keep the money - they were probably arguing about the split or he desperately needed money to get a drink or drugs.
Makes you wonder whether you should get involved but if you have decent instincts you just seem to act instinctively with no sense of personal danger.
If more of us were minded to intervene maybe these scumbags would not find it so easy - knew I should have kept up my Karate lessons LOL!!!

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

While I agree with the above, you are also a VERY LUCKY INDIVIDUAL. Things like this go south very quickly, and you are lucky this guy didn't want to escalate the incident. Had he pulled a knife, even if you had a gun, you were too close to react. If someone with a knife is within 21 feet of a person armed with a gun, studies have shown that the person with the knife can overtake and harm you before you would have time to react with the gun. Things worked out here, but be very mindful of your own safety as well. Bottom line is your help would matter little if you were shot or stabbed and unable to continue your efforts on behalf of the girl or yourself.

BuddyLars Loc: Rockton, Illinois

I agree with all of your statements. I do not carry a firearm. I did not see this girl get and say to myself, "what should I do?" It just happened. Honestly I do not remember getting out of my truck. This is not something that has happened to me before. This guy had both hands exposed and I was anticipating him to reach, if he did I would have to do something. Sure I have broken up fights before, and prevented one from a friend of mine and a drunk at a free outdoor concert (3 Doors Down) in Rockford. Gary and I were on the edge of the mosh pit watching the fools hurt themselves, when one of these idiots confronted Gary. He had Gary by the arm and this nut looks at me, I said into his ear if he didn't let go, he would miss the rest of the show. It took him about 10 seconds, just staring at me for him to understand what I meant. Later the police hauled this joker away in handcuffs with a bloody face. Looked like he grabbed someone else who decided to punch instead. I'm 55 and when I was in my early teens I took years of martial arts training. The last time I had to really fight was in my early 20's. If I had to really fight today it would have to be real quick as I know I wouldn't last for more than a couple of minutes. My job is physical and I still have good strength, but I know I have a very limited stamina, that shows when I'm coaching soccer and I show an example or two of what I want the kids to do. I make a couple of runs and I breathing as though I ran a 440.

Croce Loc: Earth

You never know how these things will go. Years ago 3 friends and I were in the Adirondacks. We had just left a little restaurant and pulled up on a one lane bridge. There was a car blocking it and a hell of a commotion going on inside. I was riding shotgun so I jumped out and ran to the passenger side window. A guy was straddling a woman and pummeling her. I reached in, grabbed him by the hair and an ear, pulled his head through the window and did a hell of job on it. The woman bloody and scratched and bruised starting screaming at me to leave him alone. I ran back to our car, the driver on the other side jumped back in and backed out over the bridge, turned around and we beat it out of there back to our motel. All night long we imagined the sirens would sound off as the sheriff approached to take us to jail. You just never know.