Hey, so my initial reaction to this video was that I would have wanted to tell that aggressive cop where to go and dared him to take off his badge and gun, step outside, and find out how tough he really is. However, then I got to thinking...
We are all human. We all get emotional, and we all make mistakes. Did the officer handle the situation ideally? No. But the reality is that the manager and employees likely were upset. They didn't actually have reason to be, but there had been a shooting incident recently, and people were on edge. They misinterpreted the victim's behavior and jumped to the wrong conclusions. From the manager's and employee's perspective, they thought the victim was acting weird and they were afraid. The manager likely sounded very panicked when he called the authorities. Again, there had recently been a shooting, so the officers were probably on edge and had been thinking a lot about what they'd do if they had to handle such a situation themselves. Because of the manager's error, the cops likely entered the scene very much on edge. They likely had adrenaline flowing and were not thinking clearly or calmly. When they started to piece together that everything was actually a misunderstanding, they were relieved but also upset. They'd been told the guy was just ignoring the manager, and they believed it. So their fear turned to rage that someone had made them afraid. Now, I'm not saying this makes everything okay. I'm just saying that we are all human and make mistakes.
Ideally, instead of people getting defensive and getting their egos involved, it would have been good if the victim could have recognized what happened and apologized straight off for the misunderstanding. I suspect if once the victim understood what had happened he had responded more like, "Oh my! I am so sorry! I honestly did not see or hear you. Considering what happened recently and how you approached the situation, I totally get why you jumped to the wrong conclusion and were frightened. I wish I'd realized so I could have assured you I meant no harm. Officers, I'm sorry you had to come out on this. I sure didn't mean to get your adrenaline up! I previously had never even thought a thing about it, but I will try to be more considerate in the future, at least to pay better attention to my surroundings", then likely the whole situation would have been defused.
Did the victim have an obligation to do all of that? Of course not. But it is good etiquette to be considerate and charitable to others when possible. I really think he himself was likely surprised and intimidated, and many people just aren't that socially graceful to begin with. Likewise, the officers could have been more charitable, too, but it is hard to think clearly when your adrenaline is up.
We should all be willing to humble ourselves sometimes for the greater good--within reason, of course. A little understanding and sympathy can go a long way. Now, I just hope I can live up to this ideal, because in the moment, I suspect I might get myself tazed!
Hey, so my initial reaction to this video was that I would have wanted to tell that aggressive cop where to go and dared him to take off his badge and gun, step outside, and find out how tough he really is. However, then I got to thinking...
We are all human. We all get emotional, and we all make mistakes. Did the officer handle the situation ideally? No. But the reality is that the manager and employees likely were upset. They didn't actually have reason to be, but there had been a shooting incident recently, and people were on edge. They misinterpreted the victim's behavior and jumped to the wrong conclusions. From the manager's and employee's perspective, they thought the victim was acting weird and they were afraid. The manager likely sounded very panicked when he called the authorities. Again, there had recently been a shooting, so the officers were probably on edge and had been thinking a lot about what they'd do if they had to handle such a situation themselves. Because of the manager's error, the cops likely entered the scene very much on edge. They likely had adrenaline flowing and were not thinking clearly or calmly. When they started to piece together that everything was actually a misunderstanding, they were relieved but also upset. They'd been told the guy was just ignoring the manager, and they believed it. So their fear turned to rage that someone had made them afraid. Now, I'm not saying this makes everything okay. I'm just saying that we are all human and make mistakes.
Ideally, instead of people getting defensive and getting their egos involved, it would have been good if the victim could have recognized what happened and apologized straight off for the misunderstanding. I suspect if once the victim understood what had happened he had responded more like, "Oh my! I am so sorry! I honestly did not see or hear you. Considering what happened recently and how you approached the situation, I totally get why you jumped to the wrong conclusion and were frightened. I wish I'd realized so I could have assured you I meant no harm. Officers, I'm sorry you had to come out on this. I sure didn't mean to get your adrenaline up! I previously had never even thought a thing about it, but I will try to be more considerate in the future, at least to pay better attention to my surroundings", then likely the whole situation would have been defused.
Did the victim have an obligation to do all of that? Of course not. But it is good etiquette to be considerate and charitable to others when possible. I really think he himself was likely surprised and intimidated, and many people just aren't that socially graceful to begin with. Likewise, the officers could have been more charitable, too, but it is hard to think clearly when your adrenaline is up.
We should all be willing to humble ourselves sometimes for the greater good--within reason, of course. A little understanding and sympathy can go a long way. Now, I just hope I can live up to this ideal, because in the moment, I suspect I might get myself tazed!