"What did you do?!"

After yesterday's post, I got a lot of people asking what exactly I did after overhearing the conversation between the bigot and his son.  Honestly, I didn't put my reaction in the original post because I didn't think I had done enough.  But, after a lot of thought, I don't know that I could've done a lot more.  So...

When he stopped to cross the street, I got as close as I could without holding my breath and said "You're a f*cking idiot".  I said it loud enough that he could hear me but (hopefully) not loud enough for too many others.  Again, we were surrounded by little kids, including two of mine, and I don't speak like that in front of them.  After a long blank stare, he came up with "F*ck you too" and we went our separate ways.

Was this enough to say in that situation?  Was it too much?  Should I have accosted him two feet from the school principal?  Should I have walked away silently so as not to draw attention to his ignorance?  Does this make me a better parent?  A worse one?  I don't think there is a right answer.

Of course, my first reaction was to want to put my hands on him.  There were several problems with this, though.  First, he outweighed me by at least half a semi of Coors Light and several buckets of chicken.  Second, the cigarette stench alone took out half of my lung capacity.  Third, I had dinner to make so a trip to jail would've been quite inconvenient.  Fourth, I am raising three little girls and I stress every single day the overwhelming power of words.

Which brings me to my word choice.  Should I have cussed?  Probably not.  I may speak it with impressive fluency, but vulgarity is not something I choose to use in front of children.  I don't think the girls picked up on that part; but, if they did, they know not to repeat it.  And, in that moment, a simple "Shut up, stupidhead" was not going to suffice.  And, I was limited by the number of syllables I could use.  Remember, I was trying to get the moron to understand me.

So, that was what I did after witnessing the racism that surrounds us still.  I am not one to bite my tongue and that sometimes gets me into trouble.  He could have reacted differently and it could've gotten uglier.  However, in my experience, any man willing to run his mouth is too insecure to use his hands.  And, a mama bear will not go down without a fight.

I'm truly not a confrontational person.  I avoid it at all costs most of the time.  But I'm a single mother working my behind off to raise three strong, self sufficient girls who won't be backed down in the face of anything.  Including big, greasy, ignorant, rednecks with small minds and smaller futures.