Today, I was rather violently accosted by a rather intriguing gentleman

[Husar]

Complete and utter lack of negotiation skills.

It seems completely pointless either way, I say live and let him live in his own magic world of biased happiness.

[Hax]

Thanks for all your responses.
@<a href="https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/member.php?u=26454" target="_blank">jht</a>: I suppose that's where our opinions diverge, then. To be fair, I feel that the environment within the boundaries of an academy is per definitio. one of debate and discussion and I don't feel that its primary purpose is to prepare people for day-to-day life, especially within the Dutch context, where most students generally don't live on campus.
@<a href="https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/member.php?u=3655" target="_blank">HopAlongBunny</a>: yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking to, although it's worth noting that at the moment that this ruffian encroached upon my personal space I was completely sober. Besides, if I would have hit him back, I'd pretty much lose whatever moral highground I had.
@<a href="https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/member.php?u=10953" target="_blank">Fisherking</a>: Right you are. What happened to "sticks and stones may break my bones"? I'll get to that.
@<a href="https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/member.php?u=3193" target="_blank">Fragony</a>/Husar: Yes.


Actually, the plot thickens. I was walking from my home to the university when my supervisor phoned me and asked me to come into her office: apparently, the two supervisors (one for the BA and the other for the MA track) had read my blog and asked for clarification. They asked me to describe precisely what had occured, and they fully agreed that the action that our fellow undertook was completely out of line, stressing the point that within the university, you ought to be able to feel safe and secure and to have the possibility to express whatever opinion. They also filed a formal complaint and directed it to those responsible for handling cases of undesirable behaviour, so that's that.

[Husar]

This is completely useless, what you really need is a gun for self-defense so you can shoot the guy in the back when he runs away with your lunch.

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well, he doesn't seem like much of a gentleman at all! :snob:

Seriously though, I am always cautious of dealing with authorities, and the initial reaction they gave towards you is why.

Still, I'm glad that it appears that they realise this guy was in the wrong. But I don't think you should pursue things too far, it doesn't seem the sort of incident worth anyone getting in a whole lot of trouble for. He might be an alright guy who took things the wrong way, maybe he has been the victim of racism in the past and took a bit of a knee-jerk reaction.

[Beskar]

Authorities generally don't do anything, unfortunately, as they are mostly hand-tied with what they can do.

He might be an alright guy who took things the wrong way, maybe he has been the victim of racism in the past and took a bit of a knee-jerk reaction.

No, he was clearly a bully looking for trouble. A victim generally might get upset, might mention something then walk away and at first this might have the case as he failed to understand the crux of the discussion. However, from the rest, you can see how the gentleman was clearly sizing the group up, he was trying to examine their reactions and like a predatory animal wanted to use raw physical strength to make himself feel powerful. I do know what Hax looks like and he is no stone cold Steve Austin, anyone who wants to try to get him into a street brawl is clearly trying to pick for an easy target.

[Sarmatian]

There was several of you and he was alone. Why didn't you beat the poop out of him?

But, you decided to take it up to the people in the offices. You certainly made their day. If they take you seriously, that means a lot more work for them, potentially bad rep for the university, blah, blah, blah... The easiest thing for them is to just drop it with "no harm done" mantra. When you've already chosen this route, don't stop and continue to pester them demanding action.

Next time, beat the poop out of him.

[Ironside]

No, he was clearly a bully looking for trouble. A victim generally might get upset, might mention something then walk away and at first this might have the case as he failed to understand the crux of the discussion. However, from the rest, you can see how the gentleman was clearly sizing the group up, he was trying to examine their reactions and like a predatory animal wanted to use raw physical strength to make himself feel powerful. I do know what Hax looks like and he is no stone cold Steve Austin, anyone who wants to try to get him into a street brawl is clearly trying to pick for an easy target.

It could be subconcious (probably is), but yeah anyone who is avoiding an actual debate for trying to start a beating instead is certainly acting like a bully.

Authorities generally don't do anything, unfortunately, as they are mostly hand-tied with what they can do.

They do get a bit less limitations if there's a pattern at least. So if this is standard behavior for our intriguing gentleman, then they can have better enforcement than a few stern words.

[HopAlongBunny]

Sounds to me like you won. With Uni personnel involved the event is swallowed by the system. Having it advanced by your supervisor keeps it all nicely bureaucratically correct and can be dealt with internally; much to their relief.

Let it "work out" on its own and move on :)