Lunar Threads

I think the distinction between spanking and smacking is subtle, but there. Depends on how you've seen it and all that. A smack is something that you might get around the face or upper body. A spank is at the backside. The former is something usually proper to give to someone who's made a social reproach, like saying something awkward and awful to someone else. The latter, in this case, is a signal to a kid that they've crossed a line and need to stop. There are limits in force to both, but in this instance, a smack is much more easily seen as abuse.

Mickey, you did exactly what I would have suggested here. Take a look at the situation for a moment, see what it feels like, notice what they're saying, the tone, the body actions and language (is he spanking him? Smacked him on the back of the head lightly? Swatted his hand once? General rough handling?), the condition of the child. If there isn't a good feeling, there must be a reason for it.

Kobalt wrote:You made the right choice by reporting the incident. As stated before, most people would have just ignored it, like one crime that took place in Philadelphia a year ago where a woman was beaten to death by a man in broad daylight near a super market in center city. A croud of people just stood there and watched as this poor woman was dying on the street.

Yeah, that happened on South Street, not 5 blocks from where I live. Apparently, my friend was walking to Pearl maybe two, three hours after it happened. She said it was absolutely insane.

People these days. Oy.

I guess you just had to be there to understand what I'm saying

Of course, and based on your slightly more detailed description, I'm definately going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm still not completely comfortable with the idea of reporting someone for something like this, but then again, I grew up in Sicily and people REALLY mind their own business there...which isn't always a good thing (morally speaking)

Yeah, that happened on South Street, not 5 blocks from where I live. Apparently, my friend was walking to Pearl maybe two, three hours after it happened. She said it was absolutely insane.

People these days. Oy.

Yeah, it was a true shame. But I'm glad that some one aside from myself remembers.

You don't really forget things like that. Unfortuantely, a lot of people from my college had no idea what happened. They're too wrapped up in their petty scenes to understand what's happening in the city around them (a city that's famously dangerous, I might add.)

For instance, one of my better friends had no idea that Katrina even happened.

The world we live in these days.

Heh, you know G1, a news spot had a "What would you do" scenerio involving kids. They had an actor who worked for the studio and a child actor at the park. The adult was the babysitter being verbally abusive to the child. The statistics showed that more women than men interviened, but more people ignored them (AKA, knew what was going on) than they did intervien.

This past year, they decided to do another scenerio. A small town store where everyone knows your name, what would you do if you saw someone shoplifting? More people knew it happened and didn't say anything than there was who reported them. Again, the shoplifter was a actor and nothing was really, stolen. After that, they decided to do something if a boyfriend was being verbally and a tiny bit physically abusive.

So many people did nothing, just walked by, looked, shook their heads, and kept on going. Some people did something, and those people who did something where ready to put an ass whooping on the guy, or call the police, or both.

So, sad but true, people don't like to get involved. It's happened to me, I don't get involved either, and I end up hating myself for it. (Like the women who had a baby in her car and left the car running while PUMPING GAS.)

Heh, when my mom pulled out the wooden spoon, you better believed I was scared shitless...it wasn't abuse, though.

Heh, you too eh? Man, that's like the most effective non-abusive form of punishment I know.

(Like the women who had a baby in her car and left the car running while PUMPING GAS.)

You'd be surprised how many people do that. It's stupid, but in that kind of case, I'd more likely hurry up and tell the lady to stop the gas pump, and explain to her what could happen. More as a "Just so you know" thing, rather than get mad at her. There would be no sense in yelling at her, as it would be more effective to stop her quickly and tell her what could happen.

Nah, I wouldn't have yelled, but I sure would be, ugh, whats the word. Upset probably. Anyway, there are tons of people who get back into their car while pumping too, and that is a proven way to get yourself blown up. Seriously, that isn't even a rumor like the cell phone is.

Also, Maru, you said your friend didn't even know about Katrina. That happens with me sometimes. When the tsunami it, I didn't even know about until a day about 2 days after it had happened, then didn't even know the extent of it until another day.

phyco126 wrote:Also, Maru, you said your friend didn't even know about Katrina. That happens with me sometimes. When the tsunami it, I didn't even know about until a day about 2 days after it had happened, then didn't even know the extent of it until another day.

I'm talking about a month or so after the fact. Even after I explained the extent of the damage, she shrugged it off as if it were no big economical deal. I didn't know the tsunami hit until a day or so afterwards as well, only because I watch the news/read the paper when I have enough time to sit down and soak it in.

Oh, eh, well, that's a different story then/ My roomate is like that, you tell him something big happened and he'll shrug you and your story off. However, he more than makes up for it by donated a decent amount of money to the relief agency (Red Cross, Salvation Army, yadda yadda yadda.)