Lowest Common Denominator

[Vish]

okay, so i decided i wanted to make some salsa so i jumped in my car to go to the store to get the ingredients to do so. as i drove to turn into traffic on the main drag outside of my business, this dude yanks a fucking balloon off of my business's sign that my wife had tied to the sign less than one hour earlier. right in front of me in my car with our business logo on it. i honked at him and got out of my car and said "hey cocksucker! put the fucking balloon back!" and he just looked at me just gave me a contemptous look and kept on walking like he was hot shit that didnt have to listen. i pulled my car back into a parking spot close bye and jumped out of my car and ran for him. he just kept walking and by the time i got to him, he was scared as fuck. he wouldnt even look me in the eye like a man and say sorry, he just said "take it". i talked shit for a minute hoping that he would do something but he just kept watching.

i know i made a post about a month ago where i abstained from fighting, but this seems different to me. i know it is just a balloon, but dude, WHO THE FUCK STEALS FROM A SMALL BUSINESS?!?!?! only the lowest common denominator of a human being would do that, and what a fucking piece of shit. couldnt even look me in the eye and say sorry or anything. i wasnt giong to attack this piece of shit, but i sure as fuck wanted him to do something. i had to take my goddamn balloon out of his hand (we pay good money to tie balloons to our signs so that our signs catch customers eyes) and take it back and tie it to my sign and tie it back on.

anyways, it took me all that i had within me to restrain myself from punching this white-boy-wannabe-gangsta-thug in the face. i just needed to vent.

[Lord Zombie]

I would have ran him over. So much quicker! :headbanger

[Mark Carras]

People today just think everything not nailed down is for them to take. Balloons are so commonly used as free marketing tools that they guy probably had no idea at first that he was stealing. Then when you kicked things off with hostility he tried to save face by ignoring you. He probably still has no idea why you got so bent out of shape over a balloon.

In short, it wasn't nailed down so he thought it was free for the taking.

[SHUT UP AND DIE]

Bro, I would say you did the right thing by not hitting him.....but the way I've been feeling lately.....there'd be one dude in the hospital (I can't seem to mellow out lately) and one in jail. Not the "right" thing to do, but fuck it, every once in a while you really, really, REALLY need to check someone.

The w*gger thing would really have just driven the situation that much farther in my mind, man.....you got some serious restraint for not nailing that one, and I commend you for it.


But.....if you happen to see him again.....throwing a rock or two won't necessarily make you the bad guy. :headbanger

[SHUT UP AND DIE]

This thread also made me think of the Napalm Death song by the same name.....

[Vertigo]

We used to stick these wind catcher thingies onto the sandwich board on the sidewalk at the bakery I used to work at. Those got stolen all the time. They were the bright rainbowy silvery twisty thingies, you know...

The owners also put up danish flags (it was a danish bakery) and those would get stolen often. They finally convinced the building to let us put the flag holders up too high to reach, so then they put the flags up with a ladder and they haven't been stolen again.

But yeah, it is fucking bullshit when people steal things from small businesses. Especially when they are there to get noticed. I guess that's the downside... people notice these pretty happy things flying in the wind and decide all of a sudden that they want them.

[Vish]

People today just think everything not nailed down is for them to take. Balloons are so commonly used as free marketing tools that they guy probably had no idea at first that he was stealing. Then when you kicked things off with hostility he tried to save face by ignoring you. He probably still has no idea why you got so bent out of shape over a balloon.

In short, it wasn't nailed down so he thought it was free for the taking.

i think what made me kick things off with hostility was a combination of watching sopranos like crazy lately and the fact that it had been less than an hour before when my wife tied the balloons to the sign.

im pretty sure this guy just took the balloon to be a punk bitch... he's that "type" of guy. you know... the guy with the extra long white t shirt that goes down to the knees, the big blue jean shorts that go down to the ankles, the white "NY" hat with the sticker on the bill that "proves" that it is still brand new that is 3 sizes too big so it can be worn to the side comfortably with the ears tucked under it... the typical wannabe-gangsta white boy who lives in a small town and has never seen a real gangsta his whole life.

[Mythos Inibri]

Do you fill the balloons with helium so they float above your sign?
I was imagining a guy like you described walking down the street with a balloon.If i saw someone walking around like that over here I'd probably point at him and laugh.:rotflUnless he was some kid coming from the fair.

[Vish]

yeah, they are helium filled balloons. he did look ridiculas walking with it, too.

[Amon]

People today just think everything not nailed down is for them to take. Balloons are so commonly used as free marketing tools that they guy probably had no idea at first that he was stealing. Then when you kicked things off with hostility he tried to save face by ignoring you. He probably still has no idea why you got so bent out of shape over a balloon.

In short, it wasn't nailed down so he thought it was free for the taking.
That was my first thought. He probably just wanted to surprise his kid. I would think if he were doing it as vandalism he'd just had released it into the atmosphere or popped it.

[Phantomreaper]

That prick!:pist