In Your Dreams (Ten Years Ago Today)

My dream of personal violence

By Moristotle

[Originally published on July 2, 2007, not one word different.]

Saturday night I had a vivid dream that left my heart pounding. Parked on a city street (in Manhattan?), after stepping out of my car for but a moment, I returned to find two young men—teenage boys—already sitting in it in the act (it was clear to me in the dream) of stealing it. Without a moment’s hesitation I pulled the nearer boy out of the front passenger seat, raised him up with a strength that I probably no longer possess, and threw him, “with prejudice,” up and over the rear of the car. Then I yanked the other boy out from behind the steering wheel, threw him to the pavement, and kicked him viciously....

Getting in the car is the last thing you should do

The worst threat of personal violence I have experienced occurred in the eighth grade. It followed my grabbing back my baseball cap from classmate Barry Ballew, who had just lifted it off my head. Barry looked at me in a way that I still believe can be fairly described as malevolent (I can see his eyes yet in memory, after more than fifty-five years). After school, Barry charged at me and I tore off for home. I was clearly faster than Barry and he soon gave up and turned back to school.
    That was it. Next day Barry had cooled down, and I never heard any more about it. I've never been mugged, never had my house invaded. I've never been confronted by another driver in road rage, although I witnessed an incident once. After parking at work in California, I was surprised to see another employee who was driving in being followed at high speed by another car. The driver of the second car got out, ran to the employee's car, pulled open the door, dragged the driver out, and punched him a couple of times. I'm glad he then got back into his car and drove off, for I don't know what I would have done.
    But what if I were confronted by a mugger, or someone invaded my house while we were home?

What would you do? What would you do if you were accosted in a dark parking lot by someone who said, "Get in the car, and you won’t get hurt"?
    Well, getting in the car is the last thing you should do, according to author Sam Harris in his blog article, "The Truth about Violence: 3 Principles of Self-Defense." I highly recommend it to you; it could save your life. An excerpt:

However bad your options may appear in the moment, complying with the demands of a person who is seeking to control your movements is a terrible idea. Yes, there are criminals whose only goal is to steal your property. But anyone who attempts to control you—by moving you to another room, putting you in a car, tying you up—probably intends to kill you (or worse). And you must understand in advance that your natural reaction to this situation—to freeze, to comply with instructions—will be the wrong one.

My dream of personal violence

Saturday night I had a vivid dream that left my heart pounding. Parked on a city street (in Manhattan?), after stepping out of my car for but a moment, I returned to find two young men—teenage boys—already sitting in it in the act (it was clear to me in the dream) of stealing it. Without a moment's hesitation I pulled the nearer boy out of the front passenger seat, raised him up with a strength that I probably no longer possess, and threw him, "with prejudice," up and over the rear of the car. Then I yanked the other boy out from behind the steering wheel, threw him to the pavement, and kicked him viciously....

I wonder whether this dream may have been prompted by the free verse I'd posted the same day ("Even though...still Nature...."), in which I'd spoken of violence, but with no acknowledgment that I myself was capable of it. My dream did remind me that I am capable of it. I had discovered by introspection (and dreaming) years ago (during the Vietnam War) that, yes, if someone (a man in my imagination) broke into my home (at the time in San Jose, California), I would be fully capable (morally if not physically) of killing him to defend my wife, my children, myself, our home. Violence, given the "right circumstances," lies just beneath the surface of myself...and of you?