On the well-traveled thread<\/a> on the front page that I’m not really following because I just spent a chunk of my day writing on the sub-blog<\/a>, Ryan says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Here. Let\u2019s put it this way. Say you\u2019re at a restaurant and someone comes up and tells (your wife) that she shouldn\u2019t be there because her job is to be at home making babies and dinner. Are the only two acceptable responses from you these ones?<\/em><\/p>\n

1. \u201cTHAT\u2019S AGAINST THE LAW! SOMEONE SHOOT HIS DOG!\u201d<\/em>
\n 2. \u201cOh well, free country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I should think not.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m curious as to what people may think are acceptable responses, and what one means by, “acceptable responses”.<\/p>\n

What do we mean by acceptable?\u00a0 Is it acceptable to punch the guy’s lights out?\u00a0 Socially, that is?\u00a0 Whether or not we believe that this ought to be legal<\/em> or not, is violence an acceptable answer here?<\/p>\n

No?<\/p>\n

Is getting into a shouting match acceptable?\u00a0 Is this more socially acceptable than punching the guy’s lights out?\u00a0 (Greater society may say “yes”, but the fellow diners in the restaurant might actually prefer a short violent altercation in the parking lot to having a couple of guys yelling at each other and ruining their dinner).<\/p>\n

Realize that any answer other than, “Oh, well, free country” on the part of the guy whose wife was just harped on is probably going to lead to violence.\u00a0 Is engaging with this idiot on any level acceptable, when you know it’s likely to lead to a violent altercation in the parking lot?\u00a0 If so, why is arguing with the guy *more* acceptable than just decking him in the first place.\u00a0 Saves time, yes?<\/p>\n

Is it acceptable to even ask this question<\/em>?\u00a0 Doesn’t it imply paternalism of the worst sort?\u00a0 If the answer is “I let my wife punch the guy out” is that acceptable husbandly behavior?\u00a0 Does it matter if she would want me to play the defender or not?<\/p>\n

Because here’s where I come down: I don’t see any response in this sort of scenario other than, “Oh, well, free country” that leads to a non-neutral outcome.\u00a0 Anything you do is likely to provoke a much worse scenario.\u00a0 Too beta male?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the well-traveled thread on the front page that I’m not really following because I just spent a chunk of my day writing on the sub-blog, Ryan says: Here. Let\u2019s put it this way....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":301510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-league"],"yoast_head":"\n