Hypothetical

[Alpo]

And yes this question came from a TV show.

 

You're in a restaurant. You're talking to somebody and you turn around and someone else is staring at you. You ask if you know them. They call you a name. Then they jump you and they punch you. Other people leap into the fray to pull them off you.

 

Would you stand there in the restaurant holding your sore jaw and yelling, "what the f*** is your problem you a******??"

 

Or would you turn around and run out of the restaurant like your coattails were on fire?

 

The guy in the TV show ran off. That's what made me wonder, because I would be standing there screaming at the guy that hit me. Or maybe, since 3 or 4 people were holding on to him, I'd go over there and kick him in the huevos, and then scream at him.

 

But I certainly wouldn't beat feet out of there.

[Texas Joker]

Fight flight freeze. Three responses to violence

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

I'm too old and fat to run. And I've never frozen up.  

[Ozark Huckleberry]

Completely lacking context -- a snip of a TV show, without any of the lead-up or visuals.

 

*sigh*

 

Have there been any threats? Is your family in a feud in the hills of West Virginia and the assailant was wearing brogans, a torn and pointed floppy hat, a patched jacket and overalls? Are you in the business of trafficking cocaine and the attacker was Hispanic? 

 

Had you noticed a dark-colored sedan with two guys in black suits and sunglasses following you before the assault? Did a piano drop from where it was being hoisted up a building, nearly missing you? Did a coyote on a rocket sled zip past you and slam into the side of a building?

 

What about the name -- was it the name you went by before you went into witness protection? Was it the nickname Spare Tire Dixon used to call you during high school? Was it the name you went by when you double-crossed the Triad?

 

Given the, 'yes it's a TV show' origin, and the scanty information given, might as well just ask -- "You're walking down a hall and pass by a door. Do you open it?"

[Rye Miles #13621]

Sounds like he’s guilty of something or just a real wuss! I might have shot the guy and no I would not run out! 

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Obviously not Irish.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I'd show him my Colt.  If that didn't work I'd demonstrate how it works.

[Pat Riot]

I have this tendency to get really angry when someone attacks me. I can’t run while angry. I need payback. You know, so they’ll remember me and not make that mistake again. 
 

I actually had this happen to me in a pool hall back in ‘84. I didn’t carry a gun, so there was no gun play. There was a pummeling. I was not the one pummeled. 
I have no idea why the guy was angry at me. I never found out why. His buddies carried him to a car and they left. I never saw them again. 

 

[Alpo]

4 hours ago, Ozark Huckleberry said:

Completely lacking context

Context.

 

An Arab terrorist captures an Army lieutenant and holds her prisoner for 9 months. Using physical and psychological torture on her. She is rescued, and he is supposedly killed in a drone strike.

 

Now it is a few years later, and she is sitting at the bar in a restaurant. He comes up behind her and orders a drink. She recognizes his voice from her 9 months of captivity. She calls him by the name he was using when he was her captor. Then she punches him. Then she punches him again. A couple of people from the restaurant jump on her and she elbows one of them in the face and is trying for him again when he turns and runs out the door.

 

Is that enough context?

 

But truly I don't see where context matters. You're standing in a restaurant and someone calls you a name and hits you. Do you retaliate or do you turn around and run for your life? Why they hit you is unimportant.

 

I know why he ran. He's the Arab terrorist and did not want to be caught. But it just puzzled me that nobody seemed to wonder why he ran. It just seemed like either fighting back or yelling at the attacker would be the normal response.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

2 hours ago, Alpo said:

Context.

 

An Arab terrorist captures an Army lieutenant and holds her prisoner for 9 months. Using physical and psychological torture on her. She is rescued, and he is supposedly killed in a drone strike.

 

Now it is a few years later, and she is sitting at the bar in a restaurant. He comes up behind her and orders a drink. She recognizes his voice from her 9 months of captivity. She calls him by the name he was using when he was her captor. Then she punches him. Then she punches him again. A couple of people from the restaurant jump on her and she elbows one of them in the face and is trying for him again when he turns and runs out the door.

 

Is that enough context?

 

But truly I don't see where context matters. You're standing in a restaurant and someone calls you a name and hits you. Do you retaliate or do you turn around and run for your life? Why they hit you is unimportant.

 

I know why he ran. He's the Arab terrorist and did not want to be caught. But it just puzzled me that nobody seemed to wonder why he ran. It just seemed like either fighting back or yelling at the attacker would be the normal response.

In the case you mention, (It's from an NCIS episode in case anybody didn't get that), I presumed that nobody wondered why he ran, because they thought that he was running from the crazy woman that just attacked him for no reason. There might also be the opinion that he's an Arab, and while not necessarily a terrorist, they have a reputation of not being willing to fight anybody who can and will fight back, at least not face to face.