Do not confuse bravery with stupidity.
Do not confuse bravery with stupidity.
I've never been in this kind of situation, and I don't foresee it ever happening. But if I were ganged up on like this, I'd walk away from them without a word. It is never a cowardly action to walk away from trouble. If they corner me, I'd have no choice but to fight. Seeing as they're minors, I'm going to get in trouble if any of them get seriously hurt as a result of what I did to them, so it has to be a situation where I'm literally given no other option than to fight them.
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Just floor them.
*If* you can manage to walk/run away, it's advisable...even if you can beat the shit out of them or have a gun in your pocket to turn the odds in your favor...it's best to avoid trouble like this (though pulling out the gun would probably be enough for them to fuck off). I suppose there are cases where running from a fight is cowardly (say some gangsta is raping your GF and you're just standing their like an idiot), but the situation you listed is anything but. I don't really care what these little brats would think of me if I avoided a fight, nor would I think any less of myself for doing so, it's called common sense. Being a tough guy (or pretending to be) doesn't really help you much when you have no idea what the intent of these kids are...they could all be high as fuck on drugs and have weapons themselves, in which case someone is getting hurt.
Depends on who you are, people don't need to be convinced that running away is cowardly if you're not fit to fight people, especially if you're out numbered. Some people aren't fighters and that's fucking a-ok
I personally wouldn't run from a fight. If someone was getting beat up and out numbered I wouldn't run away from it. I can personally handle myself, again, some people can't so it's okay.
Some times it's best to just walk away... If I was in a bar and bumped into someone and things flared up then I'd just play it down and walk away, hell, I'd probably end up having a beer with the guy.
If I was on my way home etc and I was approached then I'd definitely stand my ground. I have no problem with hospitalizing people that attack me... Sure I'd probably walk away with cuts and bruises myself, but if you let people push you around then you're always going to be an easy target.
I've never let anyone push me around and I never will. I'm a kind enough guy and I give everyone a chance... if you throw it back in my face then you're beyond redemption.
I'd held them gunpoint and spit on their faces. "Who wants to pick a fight now, bitch?"
It ain’t wise to poke a warrior so much, sonny. We just might poke ya back.
however if they continued to harass me would pick the biggest one, Punch them hard enough in the solar plexus to knock the wind out of him.
A) Keep on walking as my warrior code frowns on breaking the bones of inferior plebs. In my dreams.
On the rare occasion when I have stood my ground I have found that these people are generally posturing and are barely a threat. They are like dogs, in a way. In my particular scenario I was forced to stand my ground as they had surrounded me. They pushed me about a bit and made threatening remarks but as I didn't really show any fear or anger and didn't actually respond to their taunts or shoving they just lost interest. Obviously it could have gone the other way and they might have just as easily pounded me into dust but as I didn't really rise to their bait they just wandered off.
The other time I just responded as if it were a normal conversation; they would make aggressive and racist threats towards me and I would answer rather passively without getting angry and, again, they just lost interest, patted me on the back and walked off. The next group of people they came across weren't so lucky and there was a scuffle. :P
It would be rather satisfying to kick the shit out of these people and teach them a lesson in fear but I am neither strong nor a fighter so I would get ripped apart in no time.
Feigning Death and watching you all die since 2005!
That's why negliance when it comes to gun safety in a household makes it much more likely an accident will happen rather than defending your home against an intruder.
And of course I would walk away. The only redeeming quality about "troublemakers" and scum (as described by the op) that some day they will become fertilizer and food for mother nature.
People should stop pretending that cowardice is a bad thing.
No its not, its a smart thing to walk away in a situation like that...
Jumping them is an act of fear. You're afraid they'll attack you, so you attack them pre-emptively. "Fight or flight" aren't the options. Both are fear-motivated responses.
And bravery is not about succumbing to fear, or not feeling fear, but in not allowing fear to make your choices for you. The brave act here is to just walk away. Might they knife you in the back? Sure. That's why this is the way to go that requires bravery. It also puts them in a difficult situation. They harassed you, trying to start something. If you attack them, they're justified in beating the shit out of you. If you flee, you're prey, and again, according to their social dynamic, they're now in the right to pursue. If you just keep walking calmly? They now have the option between attacking you, from behind, when you don't see it coming, which is a hugely cowardly act, or yelling "yeah, KEEP walkin'" and try to save face. They've already lost, and all you had to do was not rise to the bait.
And while I haven't done this with a group of chavs, I had some gorilla of a dude pick a fight with me in a bar, and this was how I handled it. The bouncers were appreciative that I didn't let him start something, and bought me a drink after they managed to get him out.