How to handle yard/estate sale thugs?

[CharlesB]

 

[freebird]

no, it's rare here, but if the police don't "see"the crime, they are less likely to do anything about it, so if there is enough witnesses (as in my case) they ask if you are willing to place them under citizens arrest.I was mad enough after the initial shock of nearly being run over that I'd have cuffed and stuffed him myself. However, they - after I (and others) said that yes, he was a danger to everyone and that any one of us would've placed him under arrest, the Police decided to just tell the old fellow to stay home, and if he left his residence again, he would wind up in the pokey - or at least that is what they told us.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I'm all for being polite and civil but if someone tries to "buffalo" you I think you ought to call them on it. In PrettySquareGals case I would have either told the person to move out of the way or reminded the yard sale lady "hey, you called me over here to see something, didn't you?".

 

[KilroyCD]

You know, CharlesB might just have the best way of dealing with yard sale thugs. Just carry an electric cattle prod!lol

 

[CharlesB]

Efficiency> Fairness

 

[Diamondback]

It's not a cattle prod, it's a LART!

As in "Loser Attitude Realignment Tool". lol Sorry, it's a BOFH thing...

 

[Miss 1929]

It's not a cattle prod, it's a LART!

As in "Loser Attitude Realignment Tool". lol Sorry, it's a BOFH thing...

Now you have to explain BOFH...

 

[SamMarlowPI]

i think i'd go Madea on these people...no way i'm taking that crap...

 

[Edward]

If it makes you feel any better, it's the same thing in retail. I see this sort of behavior every day at my store. I believe it stems from an overripe sense of entitlement. We're living in a "me first" generation, and the bad news is, they're teaching their children to behave in exactly the same manner.

I see it everywhere. Saturday night, I was at a free screening of Rocky Horror in Peterborough, just outside London. It was meant to be outdoors, but had to be moved inside due to technical problems. It was blatantly the case that only half the folks there would fit in, so they prioritised the folks who had paid for a prior, related event. A lot of folks got very ugly, demanding entry.... didn't seem to occur to them that not everyone could get in, or if it did they seemed to feel that they were somehow wntitled ahead of everyone else. More likely they just didn't think, at least not beyond "me first!" It's sad, but that's how a lot of society is going. Personally, I feel that rampant capitalism must take a lot of the blame here, but that's into politics and against House Rules so I'll drop that one sharpish.

 

[Edward]

Anyway, not sure what you can do about it. My wife and I were in Baby's R Us the other day, fftopic: , and a lady cut right in front of us. I said to my wife, loud enough for the person to hear, "boy, people sure are rude here, they just cut right in front of you." Not to mention she had a cart full of stuff and my wife and I only had two items.

Usually what I do too. Unfortunately nowadays even (or especially) with 15 year old kids there's too big a risk of being surrounded and getting a black eye (at best - far too many of them carry knives now)... little makes me angrier than rudeness, but you have to think sometimes about what is worse... There was a guy though (man in his late 30s / early 40s) last weekend when my aunt was staying pushed her out of the way to get onto the tube first.... not that last tube of the night, there was another one due in two minutes, and it had only just pulled up and opened the doors, so it wasn'tg even as if it was going to leave immediately. I'd have taken his head off if i thought I could get away with it. I'm not violent by nature, but if I didn't keep a logical head on, there are times when I would very easily start a fight.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I want to add that I am fully capable of telling off these thugs, whether in ghetto speak or dry British style sarcastic wit, but I choose not to do so. I don't see any glory or wisdom in stooping to their level, and the wit would be lost on them. And I still wouldn't have the goods.

 

[Diamondback]

Now you have to explain BOFH...

OT: BOFH=Simon Travaglia's wonderfully snarkish protagonist in his "ba***rd Operator From Hell" tech-humor series. Current tales are at www.theregister.co.uk/odds/bofh , and they've got a link to the archive with the original Usenet posts where the ba***rd got his start.

Make sure you "take care of business" before you start reading, it's pee-one's-pants funny and I refuse to accept responsibility for any "accidents".

 

[Feraud]

I want to add that I am fully capable of telling off these thugs, whether in ghetto speak or dry British style sarcastic wit, but I choose not to do so. I don't see any glory or wisdom in stooping to their level, and the wit would be lost on them. And I still wouldn't have the goods.

When you let someone get away with this business it empowers them for the next time.
It is not stooping to their level to speak up for yourself.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

When you let someone get away with this business it empowers them for the next time.
It is not stooping to their level to speak up for yourself.

I did speak up ("You cut right in front of me.") I have no power over her or anyone else- I can only empower myself for next time. I also will not change my style (the "telling off" I referred to) or duke it out so that I can obtain a neat old object at a yard sale.

And I do have a strategy for next time.

 

[Joie DeVive]

When you let someone get away with this business it empowers them for the next time.
It is not stooping to their level to speak up for yourself.

I tend to agree. You don't have to be salty about it. Making your case can be done in a classy way.

For ShortClara's assault, my first instinct would have been to burst into tears, wail like a banshee and point accusingly at the offender, (assuming there were witnesses). Childish? Maybe, but it would make the fellow out to be the cad that he was, and would probably discourage similar behavior from him in the future.... lol

 

[TheDutchess]

i think i'd go Madea on these people...no way i'm taking that crap...

LOL Hey that's what my granny taught me to do if someone pushed me around.

 

[dahliaoleander]

i think i'd go Madea on these people...no way i'm taking that crap...

That's how my mother is. And I'm turning out to be the same way.
So I guess that'd make me a MIT. Madea In Training.

But I like Joie De Vivre's idea.

 

[Miss 1929]

Me too.

Crying works really well on men! Even if they don't care, it makes it really obvious that they did something really bad to you, and everyone pays attention. Then they start to worry...and leave.
If I was that dealer, I would have said, sir you are not welcome as a customer.
If I was there though, I probably wouldn't have had the presence of mind to cry, I probably would have kicked him in the...

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I'm sure I could have acquired many things in life, including getting my way, if I had cried and pouted and stomped my feet.

 

[Feraud]

ouch.