Elderly man starting a fight in the mall
By saizo6
@saizo6 (2199)
United States
November 21, 2010 9:17pm CST
Usually when I think about disturbances in the mall I think about teenagers starting it. But today changed that perspective for me. I was working today and was witness to an altercation between an elderly man and some teenage boys. The crazy thing is that the elderly man is the one at fault. It was a busy day and I was helping a customer. There was an elderly man and a group of teenagers in line behind the lady. One of the boys had a skateboard and he accidently dropped it on the man's foot. He then apologized but the man was giving him a hard time. One of the kid's friend came to his defense and told the man that they were sorry and for him to calm down a bit since it was an accident. The man practically blew up in their faces. He got into their faces and was telling them that they were "worthless", "stupid punk" and other things. He then followed up with his tirade by shoving one of the boys really hard. Things started going out of hand with me and the people around trying to break them up. The lady that I was helping got in between them and the man started going after her instead. He was being really rude. I got fed up and called security on him.
This incident was really shocking. I couldn't believe how irrational this man was acting. He was making a really big fool out of himself. You would think that someone his age (I think he was in his 50s) would be more in control of himself. The sad part was that the lady that interfered had three little boys with her and they were witness to this man going off and swearing up a storm.
13 responses
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
22 Nov 10
I always observed that old people hated young people in general. When i was young, i accidentally bumped an old dude and he yelled at me after i apologized. Pretty much the same thing. I just took it maybe out of respect. After the yelling i just walked away casually.
1 person likes this
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
22 Nov 10
You do have a point. I do notice that the old people are always griping about the teenagers in the mall. I was just surprised because nothing like that happened to me when I was a teen. But on the other side, I was glad that those boys just brushed it off and didn't do anything.
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
22 Nov 10
I'm sure it's just out of respect too. Interesting thing is, we give way to both extremely old people and toddlers. Age groups right in the middle are who we wanna dump it all off.
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
23 Nov 10
I had witnessed such oldies who create a ruckus out of absolutely silly stuff!Its really annoying to get rid of them from your back as they think nobody dares to oppose or raise their hands against them as they're well aware of them being OLD(Aka Senior Citizen 
).And they make the most in indisguise of their age cursing the teens or whoever causes a little discomfort to them unintentionaly.They pay a deaf ear to the apologies too.great day.
).And they make the most in indisguise of their age cursing the teens or whoever causes a little discomfort to them unintentionaly.They pay a deaf ear to the apologies too.great day. 
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
22 Nov 10
that is really sad... as an elder, he should set a good example to the youngsters and the fact that he behave in that manner shows how childish and immature he is... the youngsters had already apologised... what else does he expect??? good on you for calling security on him... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@josga2008 (320)
• Canada
22 Nov 10
The thing to avoid when judging something like this is to avoid thinking in absolutes. I've noticed comments on here such as "I always thought teenagers were the ones who did this", or the ridiculous statement I noticed that said that "old people generally hate younger people". What a crazy statement. People can be polite, mad, rude, or ridiculous at any age. Of course there are grumpy older people. Are all old people like that, no way. Of course there are teenagers that start fights. Are they all like that? No way! Stop generalizing.
1 person likes this
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
23 Nov 10
You are exactly right! I was trying to get that same thing across in another post but didn't quite get the wording out. But I really agree with what you are saying. We really shouldn't lump everyone together because of the actions of a few people. And that doesn't just apply to this situation but all situations in general.
@LovingLife139 (1504)
• United States
22 Nov 10
It is sad how often older generations are at fault in such situations, and yet how often younger people are prejudiced against in society in contrast. Teenagers are teenagers...but people above the age of 18 need to mature a bit and learn better. I hope the young kids you witnessed are not discouraged by the man's unacceptable behavior. I've met quite a few people in their 40s or above who are simply miserable people. Society and other people get no benefit from coming into contact with these people, and it's sad to think that they have wasted a few decades of life being pathetic and ugly people.
Were the police called? This man could have been cited for assault or even a disturbance...and in a way, I hope he was. Perhaps it would discourage him from starting things and proving just how little he's learned from life experiences in the past 50 years.
1 person likes this
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
23 Nov 10
Well, we didn't call the police or anything. I did call the mall security, they came to talk to him and they asked them to leave. I was glad he didn't put up a fuss then since he was going off about how crappy the security was and everything before they showed up.
@traxx4dayz (5)
• United States
22 Nov 10
I have first hand knowledge of elderly people getting pretty hostile. I work for my tribe installing satellites. I have ran into some very mean older people. It reminds me of a show that I seen on Tru TV. they had a special on older people losing it. It was insane. They showed 2 older men in a parking lot duking it out. It looked like ufc in slow mo. They both were very wobbley. It was kind of funny really
1 person likes this
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
22 Nov 10
I wouldn't say someone in their 50's is "elderly", elderly is pushing 70 as so many people work into their later years.
But either way I can't see why the man could not accept their apology and just forget about it. No need to get nasty with the boys about it. I dunno, it depends on how crabby he was that day or how he felt about the line, the group of boys ect. And not to mention you don't know if he had a bad foot and then that smack on his foot really could of done a number on it as well. Who knows but again he should of accepted the apology and been done with the situation and moved on.
1 person likes this
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
22 Nov 10
I think he just didn't like teenagers in general. He was going off about all teenagers in general in his rant. I actually don't know how old this man was though, but it was at least 50. My first guess was that he was having a bad day too. But even if that was the case, he shouldn't have taken it out on those guys.
@DarthJustice (2014)
• United States
22 Nov 10
I can relate to some degree. In 2008 I worked as a police intern at my university. Often I worked the parking at the football games when there were home games. I can tell you I do not miss it whatsoever because of some of the people I had to deal with.
This couple who were in their 50-60s wanted to park in a particular area despite the fact that no one else was parking there and everyone was moving to the same area. But not these self-entitled jerks. The man was extremely obnoxious and started yelling. The woman, who was an employee at the university, started ranting to another officer about how she hoped I never came to her window (she worked in the administrative building) and blah blah blah. After walking off, the officer in question told me to not pay any attention to her because that's just how she was (apparently, it's a normal behavior which is even worse, I think).
I can say in all honesty and truthfulness that my then two year old niece acted tons more mature than the two people did. I do mean that with no exaggerations.
Some people, unfortunately, are just the type you'd prefer to have as little interaction with as possible. Perhaps the guy in your story had had a bad day or something. But then, maybe he's like "my" two people and not. Who knows.
Either way, that's no excuse to treat people like that.
1 person likes this
@Angelgirl16 (2171)
• United States
22 Nov 10
Hi Saiz06,
Unfortunately, being an adult doesn't constitute being levelheaded. Clearly the boys were sorry for the accident, but the man was angry, probably before he went shopping and the incident with the boys just give him the excuse to explode.
It is very sad that one minute things are fine and the next minute you are in a brawl over some trivial situation. Luckily the man didn't have a weapon and the situation didn't get any more violate than loud shouting and slight pushing.
The man clearly could use some anger management classes.
@Angelgirl16 (2171)
• United States
26 Nov 10
I will think about this when I am standing in line at a check out counter.
@calpro (930)
• India
22 Nov 10
Hi,
Some people are like that they make fuss out of each and every small issue. They grow old but their minds will not have the required maturity.We can understand if a teenager or a student behaves like that because of his age,but an elderly person making fuss is really unfair. In this even the boys who did not lose their balance control should be appreciated.
It is a wise decision to call the security for help.
Happy Mylotting
1 person likes this
@tokwa99 (92)
• Philippines
22 Nov 10
i feel sorry to the woman tried to help, that elderly man is being arrogant, eventhough its an accident yet still he's being fed with that attitude, i know mostly "old people" are being sensitive with the people around them. They should understand it was an accident, if im with those boy i rather say sorry and walk away to the elderly man, so that situation will end. since the elderly keeps yepping with those kind of words, man thats so frustrating.
1 person likes this
@justwakeup (233)
• India
22 Nov 10
elderly man are getting frustrated now a days. day before yesterday my nephew was about to open her car window, she just opened it 2-3 inches wide to look back if any body was coming suddenly one elderly man riding on a scooter piled up with lot of stuff lost his control over the scooter & fell down. after the incident he harrased a lot to the young girl & passed many irrelevant remarks
@lxdollarsxl (76)
•
22 Nov 10
Well i guess im considered very old then at 62, but you know age makes no difference when it comes to people making trouble. The sad thing is it also gives the wrong impression to the young when stories like this surface and they tend to think all older people are like that. If he was over 50 by that age you would think he would have matured and accepted that it was just an accident and accepted the boys apology with grace.
1 person likes this
@saizo6 (2199)
• United States
22 Nov 10
Haha...I don't think you're old at all. But I think this goes both ways. These kind of stories would give the wrong impression to both sides. The older people would think that all the youngsters are like that and vice versa. It's just a tough situation, this huge generation gap.
