by GaoNovice » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:11 pm
My two cents-
About ten years ago I stopped at a mall on my way home from work. On the way out, I encountered two girls (about age 18) into each other's hair with one hand while swinging their other fists. A young man stood nearby and watched.
As I was taking in the scene, an older gentleman happened by, and gestured that he wanted my help to break up the fight. I thought about it, and asked myself, "Why not?"
I pulled out my cell phone, held it overhead, and shouted, "Listen up! You have to the count of three to break it up and clear out, or I'm calling 911!"
They stopped swinging, but didn't let go, just watched. I said, "That's 1!" There was no movement. I yelled, "That's 2!" Still, no change. I called, "That's three! I'm calling 911!"
I keyed in the numbers, hit "Send", and watched the following message scroll across the screen: NO SERVICE AVAILABLE
I then went through a "show" - "Hello? Police? You're on your way now?" or something to that effect. Fortunately, they scattered. I was afraid that the next days headlines would have read, "Local man beaten with cell phone!"
In reality, I have been involved in many episodes of breaking up fights, and studied the issue as part of psychiatric emergency response teams. The general rule of thumb is don't engage physically without assistance. Clear breakables and sharp objects away, and get help. I've stopped ONE fight by shouting at the participatants, but that was probably just luck, and a mistake on my part.