Be the Better Person

I witnessed something the other day from one of my son's friend that has given me something to share with you. So my son's friend has this car that produces very loud music. Boom, Boom hear him coming from a great distance away.

I wasn't at home, but he stopped by the house to hang out with my son. They were in driveway shooting some hoops being teenagers. The music apparently was just a blasting.

Neighbor screams over to them," Shut that $hit off". Both kids yell back," No", keep in mind it's early afternoon. There is a loud noise ordinance but it doesn't come into play until after dark.

Neighbor is a guy who doesn't have a very good reputation in the neighborhood. He likes to argue and thinks he's entitled to do so because he has lived in the same house his whole life. A little more background,this guy is in his 40s and still lives with his parents. His children are grown and all share different mothers. Also he has been in and out of jail several times. So I think you have a better picture now, trouble.

So the neighbor walks over gets in the face of my son's friend. From what I heard from another neighbor he threatened to kick is butt. The kid lashes out to him replying ,"You touch me your going to jail."The guy said ask the neighbors around here about me they know. I can say what I think but let's not get off track, hehe Shortly after this my son intervened and told the guy to leave. My son is no small kid, he's 6'4 just over 200 lbs and all muscle. I won't tell him but he's scary, not someone you would want to cross paths with. His friend is very much of normal posture for his age. I guess the guy left shortly after that but was still yelling and cussing as he was walking away. Even saying, "Go ahead and talk trash as I'm walking away." According to accounts this wasn't the case the boys most certainly stood there ground before he walked away.

Two days ago my son told me his friend was coming over. I hear the boom boom coming and than all of sudden it goes quiet. Ok he must be in driveway I look and he's not there. I look down the street and see his car parked on the curb in front of the neighborhood guy's house. Both my son and I watch to see if anything gets out of hand. Probably 5 minutes goes by and he leaves and pulls in driveway.

I ask him what happened thinking I might have to go over there. He tells me he stopped to tell the guy he was sorry about the other day. He said guy appreciates it and said he had a lot of things on his mind that day. He also mentioned he doesn't mind the music and said just don't play loud after dark.

This kind of took me off guard. I really thought I was going to have to go over there one eye and all (due to a recent eye surgery). I told him good on you, your the bigger person. He mentioned he didn't want the hassle of confrontation again. Also he didn't want the guy to cause any trouble with us.

For a young 16 year old kid to do this is special. I can almost guarantee the guy would have never done it because he is proud to be the neighborhood bad guy. It gave me hope that are younger generation can resolve issues and make things better for all. It's not often a kid is the bigger person than an adult. Kudos to him.

We all should be the "better person" when it comes to conflict. Sometimes it can be as simple as biting our tongue and walking away. A little hardier might be apologizing for something even though your in the right. It's not always good to seek out revenge. That just might lead to a never ending feud.

I hope you all enjoyed this story. I had other things on my mind to write about but I received a text from my Son that he's going over to this friends house after school. So this made me think why not mention him for his good deed. Thanks for stopping by again and hope your day ahead is a good one.