Quote Originally Posted by Oorahguy View Post
you're talking about a 1-in a-million chance
People have also won the lottery before.

Quote Originally Posted by Oorahguy View Post
don't be ridiculous.
Yeah, because you totally weren't unable to move for a few seconds after he hit you and you fell on the ground.
There also aren't just the legal consequences, imagine you make him fall even harder than you did, he gets permanent brain damage of some kind, he becomes the living proof of your aggressiveness, you will have to explain this to your future wife and kids etc. Your whole family will know that you are the one who permanently hurt someone over some petty issue where you can't even say how it started.

Of course it may be unlikely, but it's also a petty issue. The risks may be low, but so are the reasons to beat him up in the first place.
And then consider the gains, if he finds out you have a strong character and don't exact revenge, well, let's just say I used to get into fights with a guy at primary school, but one day I learned that beating him up at the first sign of aggression was not the best way to go and I changed my approach.
In the end I even got invited to his birthday party...

We didn't exactly become best friends but a friendly atmosphere is usually preferable to a violent one and it does feel good when you see that some simple action or inaction can completely change certain things, that your decisions have an impact on others, sometimes in ways you wouldn't expect.

If you do however choose to beat him up, the chain of violence is likely to continue, maybe next time you're even the one who won't get up anymore, considering that you already had some problems last time...

Give it some thought instead of one-liners.