PUNCHING OUT WOMEN

Sometimes it's necessary to punch a woman out.

But not because you find her annoying or clingy or she wants to go dancing when you want to stay home or she burned the toast again at breakfast.

More like: when she's coming at you with an axe in her hands and murder in her eyes. Brother, you are not required by etiquette to take that axe in the face.

Just because she's packing double-X chromosomes doesn't give her the right to kill you.

On the other hand, when murder and maiming is not on the agenda, a guy should keep his hands to himself. For that matter, so should she.

Let's everybody take a breath and step back.

Folks get pumped up. They get heated. They get excited. They get overwrought. It's time to back off.

I've heard it said: "A man should never hit a woman."

That's almost perfectly correct. Better: "Nobody should ever hit anybody."

But we all have a right to defend ourselves. In such a case, the words of every snot-nosed, whiny kid takes on new meaning: "He/she started it!"

If you are attacked, male or female, you should be able to react in an appropriate manner. And yes, the blame goes to the one who started it.

But usually men are bigger, stronger, and tougher than their mates. A little restraint is in order.

If I'm seeing the video right, Ray Rice smacked his fiancee as soon as they got in the elevator. She came at him and he decked her with a left. Her head stuck the railing as she fell. She continued to the floor, out cold. He dragged her unconscious body into the hallway.

Apparently Ray was annoyed at something she did before they got on the elevator. He punished her for it, and that started the fight. When she came at him, he was at best entitled to a gentle push-back. (And maybe not even that.) Clocking the woman was a massive over-reaction.

Janay Rice (she's now his wife) wants everybody to butt out. She says the release of the security footage was intended to embarrass her.

It's a common problem: People are convinced they know what everybody else is thinking, what everybody's secret motives are for their actions.

It's a delusion that seriously complicates life on this planet.

PS: I hope Rice saved up some money. Being out of work can put a lot of stress on a relationship, stress that sometimes breeds domestic violence. They say they're getting counseling. Can they even afford that now?