Don't Be An Asshole - Yes, Coming From ME

It seems as though its true that you learn things everyday - I don't doubt that. However, sometimes its not just learning something, its more focusing on something due to self evaluation. Some of you know me well, some that read this may only know me to a degree, or may have known me a long time ago. For those of you who do currently know me well, you know my stance for a while has been to leave people the fuck alone - don't pick on people, because why on earth would you want to make someone feel like shit for no good reason? Now is when a multitude of people will jump ship, saying "Andy is the asshole, he is the guy who picks on people." While that statement would be way off base, A. I can see where things might get misconstrued, and B. I did do that today and it sucks.

Lets start with A. (Its kinda like 1, you can't really go wrong starting here.) I can understand, due to my high frequency of finding myself in confrontations, that people might assume that I am an asshole and I pick on people. This just is not the case - its quite the opposite. Take a recent example or two: This weekend at my friend Chris's family tailgate... There is one tailgater who is often a problem, not only at the tailgate but in life in general. This unnamed person named Josh essentially gets on everyone he meets nerves, but nobody ever says anything about. Drunk, not drunk, vulgar, not vulgar, its always there - on top of that its usually totally inappropriate for the setting/company. Even I had put up with the bullshit for quite some time, but this weekend it came to a culmination when Josh decided to berate the Yankees (not that I honestly care if he does, but the subject isnt the point, its the manner in which he goes about it) by grabbing my shoulders and shaking me around, asking how I liked the playoffs etc. OK. Back to those of you who know me, this is simply not something I deal with. I am not a bully, but I am an alpha male figure who doesn't deal with others playing down to me or attempting to make me feel lesser - especially amongst a gathering of my friends. I could sense that everyone else was tired of the obnoxious behavior as well, so instead of just taking the bullshit and letting it go, I proceeded with the following. I grabbed Josh and calmly told him that I was tired of his bullshit everytime I saw him, everyone else was tired of it, and if he didn't do away with the grin on his face while I spoke to him that I would gladly knock it off - add in some extra uses of the word fuck in there as well.
OK lets analyze this - why was I NOT the asshole here? Well first of all, I was thanked by all others present for doing what I did. I had every right to say/do what I did, and I did it for one reason and one reason only - everyone else seems afraid/reluctant to say anything to these types of people. I do not actively seek out confrontation, I'm just a protector. I stand up for myself, as well as those who are unwilling to stand up for themselves. Its as simple as that - however, if you're like me (there aren't many of us) don't just take that stance and say you do this - ALWAYS do it. Don't slip up like I did today.
I won't get into specifics of what went down today, but I essentially pulled a mean trick on someone I don't know, who did not necessarily deserve it. It makes you think, but it also makes you feel good about your true feelings when you slip up like I did, and the 1st thought that comes to your mind is how bad you feel for the other person. I can almost blame the protector side of me for even having done this - but in the end I should have thought about the situation and why my subconscious only THOUGHT protection was needed when it really wasn't.
If I could tell everyone who doesn't understand me one thing, I think I would go with this analogy: On the outside I may seem like the bully. However, in reality I'm the person that confronts the bully because nobody else will. Just be nice to people in general - if I can honestly see the world this way, anyone can - all of you who have known me for a long time can attest to that.