I feel like a coward for not "defending myself." - Did I right?

I work in a department store that's very crowded.

While I was putting merchandise on the shelves, and angry aggressive guy starts causing a scene behind me.

He was yelling at another customer, telling him to get out of his way. Shouting obesities. Then he directed his anger towards me. He easily could have just walked backwards, turned to his right, and got to where he needed to go.

But NOOOO, we had to move out of his way.

I have pepper spray.

I wanted to tell him to go around us.

I wanted to just say / do something.

But I didn't do anything.

Or say anything.

I just pretended he wasn't even there.

I felt like a coward.

In the end, the dumbass wound up shoving his way through, and getting into the aisle.

That all could have been avoided if he used his 2 braincells to do what I said above: walk around.

I wanted to say, "Why didn't you just go around?"

But honestly, I was scared.

He seemed like the kind of loser to throw his life away in a random stupid situation.

What if that animal had a gun/knife on him?

What if my pepper spray didn't work?

What if it did work, and I got fired? (I'm not a regular worker - I make a great living from my job, and because I have a criminal record, it's hard to find a job for me.)

A part of me thinks I made the smart decision by not doing anything...

But the other part of me thinks, "I should have done something." And now I still feel like a coward.

I feel those internal instincts shouting at me that I should have done SOMETHING.

Be honest? Were my actions cowardly? Or did I do "the right thing." Or was it both?

Submitted September 29, 2024 at 04:49PM by AnArmyMan https://ift.tt/pncoCrI