Okay, so maybe this is sort of twisted, but Mark and I saw the "coolest" fight the other evening. Maybe 'cool' is the wrong word, and of course, if the fight hadn't occured, all the better. But, anyway. We were enjoying some pizza outside a little pizzeria/gelateria, went in to pay, and when we came back out there was clearly a kerfuffle of some kind at the corner of the street. We paused to assess the situation as it was the direction in which we were headed, and realized that a fight was in progress. But not for long. Men descended literally from every corner, separated the men and simply blockaded them from approaching each other. One had been on a motorcycle. Another cyclist came over to his bike, helped him move the damaged motorcycle out of the road (away from the other man). Masses of men, I swear, continued to appear - all civilians. Not, however, to "see what was going on". They were there to help, to discourage any continuation.
I was really impressed. Mark and I mulled it over while enjoying some yummy dessert and realized that this scenario was unlikely in the States for a couple of reasons:
1. you never know whether one of the 'fightees' is carrying a weapon
and
2. if the police show up, they're most likely to simply arrest everyone there as they wouldn't know who the true culprits were and everyone would have their own version
Just a snapshot of life here that makes it interesting. Israelis may not be friendly, but they always seem to be there if you need them.
That is so true. This would never happen. Even as an educator some people say don't break up the kids in a fight! I mean, cause we could be liable if the kids get hurt...or if one kid punches the other as we pry them apart...yikes.
We've been told that essentially anything we do for the immediate safelty of kids will be okay, so we CAN break up fights.