# Teen Thugs take on the wrong 65 year old man. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736 "2012-01-26T15:33:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/81 "2012-01-30T16:06:20Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Can’t it be both? I don’t see a strawman. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/82 "2012-01-30T16:09:36Z")
So your interpretation of “it sucks that a 15 year old kid died” is “that old man should have just taken his beating and offered up his PIN with an apology for how little cash he was carrying?” Really? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/83 "2012-01-30T16:23:16Z")
If it’s just ridicule then it’s pretty far off the mark. It’s bad form to ridicule people for saying something that they never said. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/84 "2012-01-30T20:58:43Z")
Since neither Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson (or Louis Farrakhan) has poked his nose into this affair, its a safe bet the story will disappear. I would like to hear the surviving (wounded) lad’s lawyer’s statement-maybe they were trying to borrow a little money from the old man? If I were the judge (and the old man on trial), I would sentence the guy to firearms training-he should have gotten all theree. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/85 "2012-01-30T21:34:01Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I would sentence the guy to firearms training-he should have gotten all theree. I gather that the third either was not attacking him, or was running away. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/86 "2012-01-30T22:32:14Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Well, there is empathy and misplaced empathy. Like saying that having your shirt grabbed and being knocked off your bike isn’t a terrifying experience for the one it is happening to. Did I say that? Pretty sure I didn’t. > [@](#): > > Oh, well. The old guy (I was going to say the victim, but in your world isn’t that everyone who was there?) was just ruffled up a bit. He should have felt sorry for the little darlings and voluntarily handed over his wallet while bashing his head against the ground so they wouldn’t take a chance on hurting their fists. Maybe he should have shown them how to make a club from a tree branch. You know, teach a man to fish and all that. Odd. This is \*also \*something I didn’t say. You may be unfamiliar with message board conventions. Generally speaking, when you quote someone, and then type something, it’s expected that the part you type bear some relation to the part you quote. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/87 "2012-01-30T22:54:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > You and **excavating** , can we stop with the strawman arguments? No one suggested anything even remotely similar to what you’re saying. Please address the comments as they actually are, not what you wish them to be. > > That’s really poor debating skills. When more empathy is given for the perpetrator rather than the actual victim what do you expect? Did you actually read the post I was satirically responding to because if you did then you’d see that it wasn’t such a great leap to say that the old man should have just taken what was given him, nay even assisted them in their en devour? Sometimes the best response is to point out the ridiculousness (maybe too strong a word) of what a person has said. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736/88 "2012-01-30T23:07:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Did I say that? Pretty sure I didn’t. The implication was there. > [@](#): > > Odd. This is \*also \*something I didn’t say. You may be unfamiliar with message board conventions. Generally speaking, when you quote someone, and then type something, it’s expected that the part you type bear some relation to the part you quote. So, you deny the implication? You deny your post said this (I’m adding bolding to emphasize particular items): > [@](#): > > I’m not saying the guy was at all wrong to defend himself. Good start. > [@](#): > > **But** there’s no mention of any weapons, other than the victim’s. What do you think this says about your first sentence? In fact, you are saying he was wrong to defend himself. > [@](#): > > No mention of any injuries, other than the muggers . Indicates that the response was unjustified. > [@](#): > > And no indication of any past criminal record. Which means what? We find out later that he, or they, do in fact have a history. I don’t know how the old man should know or care about this, though. > [@](#): > > All it says is that they knocked him off his bike, and two of them “assaulted” him. But “assault” could be grabbing the front of his shirt and yelling at him. Again, indicating the response was unjustified. > [@](#): > > Which is bad, sure, but not “sociopath” bad. Literally, all we know about the dead guy is that he was 16, and one time he tried to rob a guy. And more empathy for the teenager rather than the senior citizen. Why do I say that? Because we know the teenager was 16 and we know the senior citizen was 65. Yet you only mention the age of the teenager rather than the age of the senior citizen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-thugs-take-on-the-wrong-65-year-old-man/610736.md?page=4)