I think it’s a dickhead versus the world thing. It’s true that many young people have an entitlement mentality that extends almost to solipsism — we are all but bit-part characters in their life’s journey. But a lot of young people are also responsible and well mannered. Although there are exceptions, I think the family they come from has a lot to do with it. I’ve heard many successful blacks in their 20s, from athletes to entrepreneurs, credit their mothers and fathers with instilling in them a good moral compass.
I move immediately if I find that we have gotten near obnoxious people in the movie theater or concert hall (which happened recently). I absolutely can’t enjoy the show if I’m thinking about how to kill the person who is doing the crime.
Last Thurs. we went to see Kathy Griffin in concert. We had awesome balcony seats, but five minutes after sitting down I knew we were going to have to move. These dumb bitches behind us must have mainlined crystal meth before arriving, because they were SHRIEKING with laughter when jokes weren’t even finished yet and they’d try to finish Kathy’s sentences and they’d say “LOVE IT!” after every. single. joke. It was more than I could take, and moving back a few rows was totally worth it to get away from them. Fucking obnoxious hens.
I’m someone who always thinks of the opportunity for education - given that I work with 20 year olds and know their ways (though they tend to be the more responsible, trainable types), I would have had to point out to the bloke the reason his behaviour was upsetting and not just told him to “turn that thing off”.
He may have already known this, but there is a chance that his 20 year old born with a mobile in his hand brain hadn’t worked out that using a mobile in a public place can be disturbing to others in some situations.
You are *so * getting that laminate and account number transfer sent to you today! 
Wow, Taekwondo jacket. Super scary. Sometimes people substitute their fantasies for reality.
Never mind – wrong Doper.
:: slinks away, redfaced ::
If I were you, and I’m profoundly grateful I am not, I’d go and check out the links provided by the person you are referring to. Read them with great care.
Then pop back in here to apologize !! See how that works?
Lemme tell you something about Tae Kwon Do, my insulting little Guesty. I studied for 4 and a half years. The entire foundation is defense not offense. Every single series of movements, each floor exercise, every kicking combination starts with one step back, not forward. You always take a split second to assess and see if perhaps turning and running is the best solution.
The person you are maligning understands more about reality and taking a step back to parse a dangerous situation than you can even imagine. Owning the physicality and logic and psychology of high-end martial arts is not about fantasy. It is always about discipline and care.
I am not friends with the person you maligned. He is a total stranger to me. However, respect for gifted teachers runs deep.
Your post is ultimately quite disrespectful and only shows an utter ignorance on your part. Thou hath made a poor first impression for such things endure, and endure.
Cartooniverse
<Bows to Cartooniverse>
Thank you.
You’re missing the point, windy full member friend.
It’s the instant fear of the Taekwondo jacket. I call it bullshit. Especially when it’s worn by a somewhat portly older gentleman. That’s going to change some young punk’s attitude?
So no, no apology. I just don’t buy the story.
It’s the group dynamic around here in the Pit, Pontius Pilates, and you probably won’t fully understand it without reading maybe two years (at least) of interactions between Clothahump and most of the rest of the Pitizens. I certainly don’t have the didactical chops to explain it to you. But, I’d point out that in casting doubt upon the veracity of the OP’s story, you’re also calling into question the perspicacity of the bona-fide Dopers who do buy it.
It’s kind of a “dog that didn’t bark” thing. A posteriori reasoning (if I’m using the term correctly) tells us, or strongly implies to us, that when folks demonstrated to have a lot on the ball don’t call “bullshit” on an anecdote, the anecdote probably isn’t bullshit.
An apology for discourtesy alone might be in order, but I don’t have my hopes up (Cartooniverse’s line about first impressions, remember?).
Anyway, Clothy, good on ya for the way you handled yourself. Sorry the evening was wrecked. And as the reporter said to Mrs. Lincoln, “Other than that, how was the show”?
Aaah, I see. Thank you!
And given that you’ve placed *4th in the world * for weapons, and she’s placed in the *national top ten * (SWMBO indeed!): I need to burn your images onto my retina so that (a) if I’m ever in Houston, and (b) I somehow lose my mind and become the kind of person who fucks with other people, I’ll remember to **never ** fuck with y’all!
Chaver, despite whatever our dear *5-4 Fighting ** is trying to sell you, zoltsu azoy laiben (you should be so lucky)!
…
Well…alright, Daddy, how much ya got? 
Oh, and Pontius Pilates? Others have already weighed in, but, damn, WTF?! (And good job there, Cartooniverse!)
*This concludes our Yiddish lesson for today.
Clothahump, this could be the beginning of your redemption (here on the SDMB, that is). Sounds like you handled the situation about as wisely as you could.
I think it’s been years, literally, since I’ve gone to a movie without seeing those damn blue rectangles light up during the film. What the hell are people doing? Can’t they just enjoy a movie for two hours? Maybe it is a generational thing, and I’m an old fogie because I don’t like to be multitasking every goddamn minute.
And now I’m seeing ads about watching tv on your cellphone – and wait till that IPhone starts showing up. People will pay their $9.50, go in the movie, and spend the entire time surfing the web. As soon as I get a widescreen HD tv, I might stop going to the movies and just have my own home theatre.
I’m one of the few official black spokesmodels in the area (smile) and I think it’s an age thing too. (Unless he was at a really* critical * point in the game and just couldn’t stop - just a geeky joke, dude)
I hope you asked the management for a refund or for tickets to another show. It’s their responsibility to keep asshats in hand - not yours.
I’ve been called names when attempting to correct other folks’ children at times - at other times the kids follow my instruction. Once I saw a kid drop a snack bag on the ground. I pulled over and yelled at him for littering and the six foot angry looking dude went back and picked it up. He even apologized to me.
Well hey. There you are.
I think you handled the situation admirably. I went to a movie recently and 'Please turn Off your cell phone" appeared 10 times before the movie started. I think the manager should have a no tolerance policy, and on discovering that you had asked him to turn it off and he had refused, insisted that the guy exit the theater until he learned some manners.
Too many teenage boys feel the need to assert themselves in some tuff guy manner that only makes them look like a jerk. He was sure he could scare you until he saw your jacket. It’s sad that they see that as manhood in some way. I’ve seen it too often and sometimes theorize that they need a good ass kicking to wake them up.
I’m going to have to swim against the tide here and say it’s a race thing. Now, before you all hand my ass to me, hear me out. I am not racist, I do not want to be a racist, and I don’t want to be accused of being a racist. And I realize that what I have to offer is little more than the plural of anecdote.
I don’t get out to the movies very often, and it’s been several years since I was at one where I was distracted by the Blue Firefly of Death. As chance would have it, it was wielded by a youngish black man.
But long before that, in the days when cell phones were the stuff of science fiction, I spent 15 months of my life as a theatre usher and 9 as a manager. This was back in the days when theatre workers regularly patrolled the houses so that confrontations like Clothahump’s would never have occured in the first place. A minimum wage drone would have taken care of it for you.
And we often would ask “Why would you pay $4.00 (yeah, it was that long ago) to carry on a conversation/listen to a boombox?” The answer was invariably entitled “I paid my money, I’ll do what I want!” And the offender was (almost) invariably black. And it wasn’t an age thing, either. The black woman who would not stop her drunken ravings was probably in her 50s. It took three cops to remove her. They pretty much had to carry her out.
Now, this is not to say that white people can’t be equally rude. They just come in different flavors of rudeness. A favorite memory was of a jerk that said “Hey! I just spilled my drink on the stairs and 3 random strangers, and I DEMAND THAT YOU GIVE ME ANOTHER FOR FREE!”
Given that the fool’s second and third posts ever are trollish crap, I suspect there’s already been a first impression.
So a guest ought not call “bullshit” because others haven’t already done so?
And if he does so in the Pit, he might later need to apologize for this discourtesy?
Um, if this were a story in IMHO, maybe. But this is the fucking Pit. Challenging the OP’s version of events is expected. If it didn’t happen, it wouldn’t be the same forum.
The fact that **Clothahump **is a TKD instructor lends credibility to his story. But the fact that it reads like a classic martial arts tall tale should make one skeptical. You can’t read that narrative and not be a little skeptical. C’mon people. The cop said as Clotha was walking away, “I gotta see this.” The guy literally choked on his words when he saw a jacket. And then Clothahump puts the cherry on top with a well-spoken parting line. I’m not saying the story is false, but I don’t think it’s particularly discourteous to question it, and it certainly does not merit an apology.
In any case, even if just the gist of the story is true, good on ya Clothahump. Handled like a true gentlemen.
Whether or not anyone else has already called “bullshit”, a guest ought not to do so while sounding like a troll. Particularly right after someone had been banned for not being able to take a hint.
It was a reference to this exhange between Cartooni and me.
The OP showed restraint. The head of my son’s Dojo could be described by someone who did not know him as a ‘portly older gentleman’ who is very humble and mild. Shaking his hand, however will let you know that he could, if he needed to, crush you like a grape. To quote him, “martial arts is all about control.”
I have no doubt that a person who has achieved high ranks w/i a particular martial art has remarkable self control. I have no doubt that reactively responding to “F U Whitey!” with “Shut Up, Bigot!” or something else about the offender’s racist-ass would have escalated the situation to a point where those same cops who commended the OP would have probably had to cuff everyone involved (including the OP). I think the OP handled the situation better than most people would have. Given that the OP is a martial arts instructor, I find his restraint believable.
As for the racist punk backing down, maybe he could see the cops over the shoulder of the OP or maybe he just lost his nerve.