Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kermo]

I had an interesting experience last night, and caught a lot of hell for the choice that I made. Let me tell you what happened.

A few friends of mine were walking down the street at 11:30 pm, with a bit of beer/soju-cocktail in us, on our way to a restaurant. This is Yongin, so the streets are pretty sleepy, but tonight there was a little more excitement.

I saw a young man in a suit in a serious tangle with an older guy. There were other guys watching, and I didn't see what started the fight, but the older guy was getting pulled around by his hair, slammed up against a van (I heard a terrible cracking sound-- thankfully it turned out to be a plastic piece rather than the glass or his skull) and finally thrown to the ground. The younger man started kicking him on the ground... and I freaked out. That's just one thing I can't stand (and the reason I'll happily watch K-1 but not Ultimate Fighting.)

I ran up to them yelled "Ok, enough!" in Korean. I got between them, and the younger man backed off. He didn't have a scratch on him, and turned to walk away. The older man was bloodied and bruised around his face, but continued to yell. I turned to him and urged him to settle down, but was forcibly pulled away by my friends.

They thought I was insane for getting involved, and chastised me thoroughly. Both a Korean guy and an English guy spent about 10 minutes tearing a strip off me, and I didn't bother to argue. Honestly, I would have done the same thing again in a second, regardless of their arguments. The older man seemed absolutely unable to defend himself, and the younger man showed no signs of cooling down.

We definitely didn't see eye-to-eye, but there were a lot of differences between myself and my companions. First, I'm a girl, and so people are less likely to punch me for getting involved (though in Korea, it's a bit less taboo, I would guess.) Second, I *don't* enjoy watching street fights. My friends were thrilled about it, but me, not so much. Third, I'm from a different culture. Canadians don't brawl nearly as often as the Brits do, but when we do, we play for keeps. Compare a hockey fight to a rugby fight, and you'll see what I mean (do rugby players get harsher penalties for fighting? The fights seem to spontaneously evaporate.) Koreans and Brits have probably seen a lot more fights than I have, and I understand why they would see the logic in just letting it resolve itself.

So, here's the question: Under what circumstances would you wade into a street fight? Feel free to reflect on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of my actions as a starting point.

[nautilus]

[quote="kermo"]

[SuperFly]

You did what? What would have happened if one of them did something to you and then we'd have to come stand watch over you in hospital? Huh? Ever think about that? No I don't think you thought about the canines and humans that care about your well being.

Am I being crass?

[Tantric Avenger]

You went with your instincts and you came out safe. Just be cautious in the future as it is very possible that you could come out of a similiar situation with a few lumps or worse.

I won't say you were wrong. I would have probably done the same thing. It is hard to look the other way when someone is getting the snot kicked out of them.

[uberscheisse]

there are 2 rules of thumb that i generally follow in street fights

1. no such thing as dirty fighting.

2. if you see someone getting kicked in the head while they're on the ground, do your utmost to stop that.

i've watched enough CSI to know what blunt force trauma can do. temper's temper, but if someone's getting kicked in the head, the fight was long over at that point. the loser has no fight left in him at that point, and bystanders have a responsibility to do something.

it's the kind of action that can turn a streetfight into a fatality. nobody wants that, probably not even the guy doing the kicking. he's just caught up in the moment and the sheer righteousness of beating the living crap out of someone. it's fun to do, but if i kicked too hard one day and ended up on trial for manslaughter, i'd probably end up thanking someone who tried to stop me.

[cdninkorea]

I would've gotten involved right away if the fight seems unbalanced (such as in that case).

A few months ago I was on the subeway when some middle aged crazy guy was yelling at a young couple, who looked absolutely terrified. I watched closely, promising myself that I would push the guy away if he threw a punch. Fortunately he didn't and instead got off the train.

Another time, more recently, a different middle aged guy was hitting a mentally handicapped (or whatever the term is these days) upside the head, for no reason other than the fact he was making strange noises (which, of course, he can't help). I was about to get involved in that, but instead a bunch of ajummas got involved and got him to calm down.
What got me especially angry about that is that I told one of those subway monitor guys that patrol the stations, and he looked in the train, saw what was happening, and did nothing.

I know people are going to call me a wannabe vigilante and all sorts of other such things, but I really do believe that when a defenseless person's rights are being infringed, others have the right (not duty) to intervene before greater harm is done.

I also don't understand why people say they would only get involved if a woman or child is being attacked or raped, but not if it's an adult man.

[Son Deureo!]

[poet13]

Kermo. I think you did the right thing. I think you were lucky too. I have heard so many times here (Daves) about chicks getting punched in the face.
The willingness and the ability to step between people also has (IMO) a lot to do with your own known capabilities. If you know what you are capable of, it's easier to do what you did. If you haven't done any street fighting or hand to hand of any kind, then it's harder to have the confidence to do what you did. I have stepped between people, gotten punched in the head for it, but I havent retaliated. When you step between people, you have to be willing to take a shot or two, and continue with the task of only separating people. If you retaliate, then it's just another street fight except with a new competitor.
Defending the incapable or weak is honorable. Unfortunately, it's very possible to get hurt doing it. You have to weigh that.











Ps, I'd still do ya.

[kermo]

[twg]

I think you did the good thing

[Brocky]

The other night I was strolling down a very recently lanscaped bridge (the one that connects Sunae to Seohyon) in the hope that a photo opportunity might rear its head. I was approached by a dirty little oik of a man who was wearing a shiny red X-vest (de rigeur for the Korean road authority I guess) and a blue jump suit.

He first rode past me on his pushbike then stopped. He was dirty, smelly and back home would have had the look of a pissed up frenchman with a smack problem. As I am a rather cynical sort with possibly too much sarcastic flair for my own good I assumed he might be after my nice new camera (coming to SK present from mums and pops).

Then I had a rush of thoughts:

1) confucianism...hes older than me so shall I show him respect?
2) there is very little crime in Korea, should I drop my guard in favour of a Palin-esque display of white man abroad-ishness?
3) am I being a belligerent arsehole?

So the first time I let it go, he cycled off until the other young koreans had left then cycled back, propped up his cycle and sauntered over, immediately assaulting me with a swathe of coarse korean, a spit and a prod in the shoulder.

I decided to turn and face him, with a face that would resemble a london-irish rugby supporter if he had been told that guinness had run out.
I glared at him as best I could, stood right up in his face, and sternly told him to F.UCK OFF rather loudly, popped smoke and returned to the bright, crowded and very public streets of seohyon.

An experience at least...

[kermo]

Brocky, you're very very pithy. Keep an eye on the "quotable quotes" thread for sure.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Brocky]

If I'm quotable I must return something at least, how about this little nugget of Smithian gold...

'How many times do you get to see smokey f.cuk the bandit?'

-answers on a postcard

[Roch]