An old friend is getting really good at finding trouble. He is not overly physically large, but his behaviour is as aggressive as it is provocative. It’s like he walks around the generally quiet and peaceful Brisbane looking for violence. This type of guy can be a menace for everyone around him, and you really want to stay out of his way; but the way that he projected his violent nature was interesting to me.
He was acting as though he could take on the world – that he was indestructible and violent and felt no pain. In short, he acted crazy! And by acting crazy, he communicated to the world that they didn’t want to rumble with him. Along the way, he was an obnoxious creep, but if you can choose to behave just a little bit crazy at the right times, you might manage to psych-out potential problems.
As I thought about it a bit more, I came across this article talking about how to handle bullies. One of the highlights is to be aware of what you communicate to a potential aggressor. To avoid a conflict, when the potential aggressor comes into your presence, you will want to be calm and focus on what you’re doing; don’t keep looking back at him (or her) and certainly don’t just steal glances before quickly looking down from time to time – that just makes you into a victim.
When you drop your ego down, you can effectively go into a ‘stealth mode’ that will make you less attractive to potential aggressors.
Still, when push comes to shove, you might want to make sure that you remember how to drop him with a punch to his chin, forearm to the throat or elbow across the jaw… don’t make a mess, but get the job done.