I saw the video linked in the story this morning (KST) and was stunned. I hope Mr. Goodnight comes through this okay. The clerk is facing up to twenty years in prison and a $10,000 fine. I wonder what Family Dollar will say and do in reaction to this incident.
Hey, he was dissing him. A Family Dollar clerk has a reputation to uphold.
Sounds about right.
My guess is attempt to settle early and often. Clubbing a deaf guy for not speaking? No way do they want a civil trial.
What a major JERK!! In what universe does this guy think that his actions were justified? 
“Wah, wah, wah, he was being RUDE!” Yeah, well guess what, a-hole, even if that had been the case, there’s no way that your response was even close to appropriate! I’ll bet you’ve never read in Miss Manners that “when someone is rude to you, the best thing to do is club them over the head with a crowbar.”
I hope they throw this guy UNDER the jail! :mad:
Jesus, what a fucking waste of space.
How in the hell did that situation escalate to a crowbar beating, just by the deaf guy not replying?!? I can’t even imagine the chain of events.
What a hideous overreaction.
Pepper spray would have been quite sufficient.
Or if that didn’t get the guy to talk, maybe a taser (low setting, of course). But a crowbar? Total overkill.
Maybe his defense lawyer will say that Mr. Goodnight was signing something that resembled some street-gang secret hand-shake.
Yikes, man. At moments like these, you kind of wish Mr. Goodnight had a German Shepherd for a hearing dog…
Look buddy, if you’re having a bad day, take a break, don’t take it out on the deaf.
I was thinking it was almost understandable, until we got to the crowbar. The hell?
Wait a minute…my register didn’t come with a crowbar!*
Seriously what the heck was he doing with a crowbar at the register in the first place? It it a bad area? I thought bars and gas stations were more likely to be held up and have a need for crowbars and such on hand. I have an ax handle under the bar at my first job (not that I would ever use it) and the bar I work at is in the sticks. Farmers and rednecks out there.
Now the guy that got hit will stress about trying to communicate more than he should.
I’ve had deaf people come into stores and resturants and we’ve been able to communicate just fine. It’s really not all that hard to figure out if someone is ignoring you or can’t hear you.
*I just started a seasonal job at a store like this. Not Family Dollar but close and I having a very hard time even imagining why someone would have a crowbar handy let alone feel the need to use it in this type of store.
I mean sure, some customers are a pain in the ass but we just can’t go around clubbing them all day long. (or can we? :dubious: )
No, you have to re-read the article. They only use chains on blind people who don’t make eye contacts.
I hope that this guy gets a long time in prison.
Maybe Family Dollar sells crowbars? 
Well, if they don’t already, they should now. In the same vein, OJ Simpson should totally be selling a line of infomerical cutlery.
I saw an article on this a day or two ago (unfortunately I’m not having any luck finding it again) that said the security video from the store was “lost or erased” before the police could get to it. I remember thinking, “How convenient.” At least the asshole admitted to doing it.
The victims shirt didn’t help matters.
First of all, on topic: Dayyyyum! :eek: That’s just seventeen kinds of wrong.
I wonder if the “cool kids” on an all-deaf campus wear stuff like that. 
Reading just the thread title I can kind of understand this. I thought it was a light tap that friends give to each other when someone says something stupid. Now that I know it involved the liberal use of crowbar-fu, I think this guy should go away for as long as legally possible.
Although this does remind me of a similar patron that comes into the library where I work all the time. He had a stroke a few months back and can no longer speak. Instead of attempting to communicate this in any way, he just steps up to the counter and stares at the clerk, waiting for them to guess what he wants. When they don’t get it, he sighs loudly, rolls his eyes and reaches into his wallet to pull out a pre-printed card he has that says “I had a stroke and cannot speak.”
EDIT:
The college I went to is affiliated with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and I remember seeing that shirt around campus a few times.
Damnit, I’m going to hell for laughing at that. My only comfort is that I know a bunch of you guys are coming with me.
At this point, all I have to say is how cool I find the name “Mr. Goodnight.”
(Hitting a guy with a crowbar because you thought he was rude? Dude. You just bitch about him with your buddies later (or on a message board). You just can’t get good help these days.) (Okay, I had a little more to say.)