There is a common theme on this site about size being intimidating. The punch line is often, “He was secretly big!” However, being tall isn’t everything; your center of balance is also high.

When I was in high school, I was on the wrestling team as a small, timid young woman. I wasn’t great at it because I didn’t want to be “rude.” This story is not about high school, but it is relevant that I spent hours every single weekday drilling skills such as throws and pins.

One day, I’m walking up the street at 11:00 pm in an area known for mugging. I’m wearing a short skirt and carrying a large purse. (It only contains a pair of dance shoes, $5 for the dance I’m headed to, and my ID.) I’m also feeling a bit down, so I’m just trudging along looking like a good target.

I hear the sound of footsteps running behind me. I think, “Either I’m about to die, or that’s a jogger.” Since I am depressed, I am so unfazed that I don’t even bother to look.

Moments later, the “jogger” catches up to me. The following all occurs in less than thirty seconds. I feel an impact of a puffy jacket, and I feel an arm wrap over my left shoulder and another around my ribcage. Without thinking or breaking stride, I throw the guy over my hip. Due to his momentum, he slides a few meters with me on top of him. 

Because this guy is much bigger than me, he is essentially a sled for me. When we come to a stop, I already have my arms around his collarbone in a half-nelson. He can’t get up, and we stare at each other, both having bitten off more than we can chew.

Unfortunately, there is another guy to come to the rescue. He tries to pull me off using my very sturdy and thick purse. I may be small, but I know how to use leverage, so it isn’t going to happen. To my surprise, the purse strap breaks and the guy runs off, leaving his buddy.

I speak to the dude I have pinned.

Me: “There are only dance shoes in the purse, but I want them back. Let’s chase your friend and get my shoes back?”

The guy nodded, and I let go to take off running. He was slightly faster and didn’t actually intend to give my shoes back, but I chased them for about twelve blocks before losing sight. I kept shouting at them to just drop the shoes. My walking shoes had fallen off during the scuffle, so I can only imagine what bystanders thought.

I did find my ID in a gutter a few days later, though, so maybe they did dump the broken purse and shoes and I just didn’t find them.

They weren’t expensive shoes, but a decade later I still haven’t replaced them, and I still don’t like when people run up behind me.

However, I’ve never found someone intimidating just for their size. Brute force with strength or weight only gets you so far. This wasn’t the only time where I was able to humble a big tough guy as a result of being the worst member of a high school wrestling team.

I recently started a new job after quitting my old job. One of the things that caused me to quit my old job was that my supervisor actually grabbed me and shoved me out of the way after putting me on the registers after only four hours of training. I told the manager exactly what happened, and she actually said she couldn’t do anything about it. I reported her to her boss and then handed in my two weeks’ notice.

Now, I’m working at a grocery store, and once again, I’ve been put on the registers with barely any training, which was done by an unprepared girl who was quitting that day.

It’s worth noting that I also have anxiety and am on the autism spectrum. I think some employers think that people on the spectrum don’t know their rights, which is unfortunately true in some cases, especially when it was less understood twenty years ago.

I’m working my way through a long line of customers and keep having to ask my shift lead for a manager code or help with pricing. I’ve also asked for help repeatedly but only got lip.

Finally, my shift lead comes up to my register, pushes me out of the way without a word, and takes over.

Furious, I tear off my nametag and storm into the manager’s office.

Me: “I can’t work like this!”

Manager: “Whoa! What happened?”

Still fuming, I tell her exactly what happened, and her eyes get narrower and narrower. Then, I tell her that I was also basically assaulted at my last job, and I tell her about my lack of training.

She actually stands up and calls for the human resources manager, and they follow me to the register where the shift lead is still checking customers out.

Shift Lead: *To me* “Finally! Where have you been? You won’t last long with that attitude!”

Manager: “Actually, it’s you who won’t last long! You’re telling me you sent her on the register after less than a day of training?! You’re the front-end supervisor! Come into my office. I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll get someone else to check you out. [Coworker], if you’re on the clock, can you help these people out? I’ll get someone to help with your usual duties so you’re not behind.”

I go to the break room to calm down, and I can hear the store manager berating the shift lead for her behavior and attitude from where I sit.

The shift lead comes out in tears, and the store manager asks me to come into her office.

Manager: “I’m sorry for how [Shift Lead] treated you. You won’t have to worry about her anymore. Assault of any kind is not tolerated here. You can take today and tomorrow off to calm down, and then I’ll go over your schedule with you and [Assistant Manager] next week. And I promise you’ll get proper training. By the way, did you ever report the girl at your last job who assaulted you? [Human Resources Manager] can help with that; she works with the Labor Department.”

So, not only did my bad temper get my new shift lead fired, but I wound up getting two people at my last job suspended.

CONTENT WARNING: Animal Abuse, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence

My husband and I just got a puppy. As puppies do, she jumps and nips at people, especially when they first come into the house. My husband’s brother and his fiancée come over one night and the puppy starts jumping. His fiancée pushes the puppy aside and the puppy turns her attention to the brother.

The brother immediately punches my puppy square in the nose. She screams and runs for cover behind the couch. 

Me: “What the f***, [Brother-In-Law]?!”

Brother-In-Law: “She was jumping on me.”

Me: “You don’t hit her! You push her off, or ignore her, or, I don’t know, tell me to get her.”

Brother-In-Law: “No, you’re supposed to punch them. They don’t like it. See? She’s not jumping on me.”

Me: “You do not hit animals. At all.”

Brother-In-Law: “I read it online.”

Me: “I’m a f****** dog trainer! This is my job! Do not hit my dog again.”

Brother-In-Law: “Well, you clearly suck at your job if she’s still jumping.”

Me: “She’s been here a week. It takes time.”

Brother-In-Law: “She learned my way in one second.”

Me: “And when your kids are bad, are you going to beat them?”

Fiancée: “Of course not!”

Me: “Don’t let him discipline them; he’ll probably punch them in the face, too.”

Brother-In-Law: “My mom beat me and I turned out fine.”

Me: “You’re an a**hole with a history of domestic violence against [His Ex-Girlfriend].”

Judging by the look on his fiancée’s face, this is news to her.

Brother-In-Law: “F*** you.”

Me: “Get out of my house.”

They turned around and left without another word.

In case you missed it, my husband stayed out of the entire conversation. He later told me that [Brother-In-Law] texted him on the ride home and said I owed an apology for calling him an a**hole and making his fiancée cry on the way home. I told him I wouldn’t do anything of the sort. His response was, “Control that b**** or someone else will.”

He hasn’t been invited back, and honestly, I’m not mad about it. My puppy is now six months old and, through positive reinforcement and non-violent response, she knows her basic commands and doesn’t jump on people at the door.

CONTENT WARNING: Severe Eye Injury To A Child

I was working in a popular department store in a mall on a busy Saturday afternoon when a man, a woman, and at least seven rambunctious children came into the store.

The man and woman — parents? — ignored their children who ran wild throughout the store breaking things, running into customers, and generally causing chaos. Various staff members repeatedly told both the children and the couple to stop because of safety, courtesy, and store policy concerns and were either ignored or sworn at.

Eventually, store security, store management, and mall security were all involved due to the incredibly dangerous behavior of the children playing, and the family was banned from the mall property itself for life. The family was refusing to leave and police were called in.

Unfortunately, the kids were still running wild. As the “father” of the bunch was being handcuffed, I heard two sounds I will never forget. The first was a not-too-loud, odd-sounding pop, followed by the most blood-curdling scream of pain and terror I had ever and — hopefully — will ever hear in my life.

The youngest son in the group had been playing with coat hangers and running; he knocked into something while holding a coat hanger and destroyed his left eye. Unfortunately for the poor child, the family did not have insurance, and they couldn’t sue the department store due to the countless testimonies of witnesses saying it was basically all the family’s negligence that caused it.

Back in the older cell phone days, a woman is causing a scene and yelling about her Nextel phone having liquid damage. She gets angry and throws her phone at me, missing completely, and… it hits her toddler in the head. The toddler is dazed a little but seems fine and continues their rampage of misbehavior. (The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.)

Two other customers are watching this exchange and I overhear one say to the other:

Other Customer: “If that were a Nokia, that child would be dead.”