While I was shopping at Ranch 99 in Daly City, I watched a 30-50 year old man yell at a 60-80 year old security guard, ask the security guard to go outside to fight him, and punch the security guard in the face (left eye) before storming off, looking over his shoulder in case he was pursued.

To appease you the reader, I should start off by saying that the security guard didn’t deserve to get punched and it is sad that he did. And it was wrong of the man to have punched the security guard on many levels, and it was wrong of the man to scream and yell at the security guard, and it was wrong of the man to storm off and not take responsibility. But what I want to talk about is the man and his perspective. So now that I’ve appeased you, let’s dive in.

Why in the world did this man act and behave in this way? Does he not know right from wrong? Does he not have self control? Does he think he can get away with this? These are common questions people who don’t understand this man would ask. And generally these people will follow these questions with an emotional reaction of fear: I’m afraid this man might someday harm me, so I want him to be locked away, punished, and corrected somehow. We need power to deal with this: the police, the law, the government, god, religion, higher powers, to step in. So that I can live my life in peace, safety, without fear.

To summarize: people who don’t understand respond with fear, and with that fear they wield power to solve what they perceive to the problem: that man.

The man was bald, asian, tan light brown, shorter than the security guard by about 7 inches, thin round glasses, wearing a checkered blue and white dress shirt, pressed with no wrinkles. He was thin, symmetrical round face, english was not his first language but he spoke it well to the point that only a native speaker could tell the slight misuse of air in his “wanna fight” pronunciation. He had a small backpack, a belt on, professional pants (but not black suit or dress pants).

I’m waiting in the checkout line. There beyond the cash register are boxes of snacks on sale. I see the security guard to my right talking to this man to the left of my field of vision. I hear the man on the left shout “Let’s go! Come on. Outside, right now. Are you a man?”

As a psychiatrist, this man is telling me he doesn’t feel like he is a man. He is insecure about his own manhood in this moment, which is why he is voicing it to the world in a desperate grasp at the idea that if he can make others believe he is a man, maybe through imposter syndrome he can convince himself he is a man. Something must be going on in his life. Something bad. Something that has taken away his confidence.

I see the security guard is an old white man, all white hair, has a belly, not athletic at all, should be retired but not privileged enough to retire so is instead working a low paying job as an unarmed security guard in ranch 99, and I see the man is younger, unwrinkled skin, but thinner. I start to theorize: He is in front of the snacks on sale, perhaps he tried to steal something because he is hungry, and the security guard is stopping him. What else would provoke such an outburst with the context I currently have?

“Let’s GO!”

This man wants to fight an older man by at least a decade. The idea that a 30 year old beating up a 70 year old proves that the 30 year old is a man is laughable. The logic doesn’t make sense. Therefore, I know this man is not thinking logically in this moment. It’s all emotional. He feels weak, his world is insecure, he is afraid, so fight or flight.

At this point I stop watching because I see the old man not making any movement toward the door (which is to the left of my vision) and I know he’s too old and wise and calm to pick a fight or give in to this childish taunting. I figure the man will just leave and everyone’s life will continue.

I see the security guard look around to see that attention of the crowd has been drawn. So with the support of us he draws the strength to say loudly “Get Out.”

There is a scuffle, I hear some plastic rustling (the snacks), I look up and I see the old man with his two hands raised trying to defend himself, walking backwards and losing balance and vision in his haste, and I see the man planted firmly on his feet, bouncing left and right as he advances, throwing one punch into the arms and another punch *smack* onto the face of the old man.

The man then backs off, and starts briskly walking away and looking around at us in case we close in on him. All the ranch 99 employees are slowly edging towards him and his eyes open wide. It’s at this moment that I notice the details: his face is fairly hollow and thin, he’s wearing nice pants, small backpack. He rushes away. No-one decides to restrain him physically and he gets away.

Everyone is in shock at what we all witnessed. We know that man was wrong for hitting the security guard, and we feel sorry for the security guard for being hit, and we know that the security guard is obviously a man for not fighting rather than a man for fighting. Cantonese fills the air which I don’t understand, and a few people go over to the security guard to comfort him. I think it’s very unfortunate: he’s an old man, he’s just trying to make a living as an unarmed security guard, probably a job that isn’t that high skill, not that much training, not that high paying…he probably took the risk because he didn’t have many other job prospects, especially at his age. All he wanted to do was have no trouble, do his job, and collect his pay.

So what’s my point with this story. I think that man had a job interview today and didn’t get the job. I think that man was hungry and afraid, as not having a job would make anyone afraid, and I think that man was feeling worthless. For whatever reason, the security guard decided that this man needed to be talked to, and the man felt even more worthless. And the man felt the fear that comes with being worthless. And the man responded to that fear with power: I’m not worthless because I can fight you physically.

The security guard felt fear, so he stood still and defensive. Then he noticed the power he could draw from the bystanders, and he used that power to fight back verbally.

The man, now facing the external fight against authority and the internal fight against his own worthlessness, responds to the fear with power and punches the man to win both the internal and external fight. (footnote1)

We as observers respond with fear followed by power as well.

My point is that responding to fear with power can lead to more fear and more power in an endless cycle. Responding with understanding can break the cycle, so respond to fear with understanding instead of power. Face your fear, know it in detail, plan for the corner cases, talk it out, understand it. That’s how you win. Not with power.

footnote1: Had he backed off, he would have felt more worthless. Thus to win the internal fight he had to win the external fight.To find out when more life education writing is released, subscribe on the side! Follow on Twitter, on Facebook, on Google+, on Tumblr.